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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845017">She Ra: Princess of Power: Sandcat AU</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starfallrally/pseuds/Starfallrally'>Starfallrally</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:21:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>41,253</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starfallrally/pseuds/Starfallrally</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The AU idea is basically just if Catra took Scorpia up on her idea and stayed in the Wastes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>To quote Knuckles Ridersabridged "it's rough, it's real rough" but I hope it's at least somewhat interesting. And who knows? I might get better at this</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"We could, you know, be happy"</p><p>Those words rang in Catra’s head as she walked to where her new gang was keeping Adora. “What if…what if I DON’T just head back?” Catra muttered to herself, because, as much as her pride didn’t want her admitting it, Scorpia was right. In a DAY Catra had gained leadership of THE MOST POWERFUL GANG IN THE CRIMSON WASTES! I mean, sure, it’s no Horde but…hey, everything has a start, right? And…Catra was happy, no, she was ECSTATIC! She felt free for the first time in what felt like AGES, mostly due to the party, but she’s the leader, she can party every NIGHT if she wanted to! Catra stopped walking, looked down at the sword, and, at first grinned, but then she remembered something. Her task. “I…I have to get this back to Hordak” she thought aloud “we need to open up that portal and…and…”. Catra trailed off. She never felt more confused. She was POWERFUL in the Wastes! She was HAPPY! So WHY…why did she feel the need to go back? Catra slumped over onto a nearby barrel. “Uuuuugh, why do I want to do this?” Catra muttered to herself. It couldn’t be power, she had that in spades here. A reward? AS IF! Hordak sent her out into the Crimson Wastes to DIE, it’s not like he’s going to pat her on the back and say “good job, you get TWO ration bars today! And guess what? They’re the grey kind!”. (On that note though, it’s DEFINITELY not the food drawing her back. Anything in these Wastes kicks grey ration bars to the curb any day!). So…why is she out here? Catra sat paralyzed on the barrel, not knowing what to do or where to go untill something…someONE came to mind. “Adora” Catra spoke aloud. They grew up together, so if anyone could help, it’s her.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Catra, making sure to put on a good face first, walked into the ship where they held Adora. “Hey Adora” Catra whipped with a smirk as she walked in. “Catra! You can’t do this!”. “Oh wooow, that’s a new one, you coming up with more material?” Catra joked before turning to the gang member she had watching Adora. “Hey, Tunnel Snake, give us a minute?” Catra asked “I need some time alone with our Princess of Power”. The gang member smirked back before walking out. Right as they walked out of the ship, Catra’s face immediately sank. “Wha…what’s wrong?” Adora asked, noticing Catra’s change in mood. “NOTHING!” Catra blurted before sinking down opposite her confused prisoner “it’s just…why do I want this?”. “Oh-okay now I’m confused” Adora stammered “why are you asking me? Aren’t we enemies?”. “Well, yeah…maybe…GAAAH, I DON’T KNOW!” Catra yelled out “I just don’t know if I want this anymore”. Adora's face softened for a moment, but she shook it off. “Well, does it matter? Hordak…” Adora started, only to be cut off by Catra laughing “oh, you didn’t know? Hordak sent me out here to DIE.” Catra snapped “Shadoweaver used me and…and I paid the price”. “Wait, you’re the reason she’s in Briiiiiiii….” Adora trailed off, realizing it might not be best for her to finish that sentence, but after seeing Catra grimacing at her, she realized it was too late. “Shadoweaver…is in brightmoon, huh.” Catra deadpanned “Hah! Figures she’d leave for her star child”. “DO YOU THINK I WANTED HER TO SHOW UP?!” Adora shouted, surprising both Catra and herself respectively “SHE HURT US BOTH CATRA…she hurt us both.”. “yeah, well…whatever” Catra grumbled, curling up into a ball. They both sat in silence for a few seconds, only listening to the muffled sounds of the gang partying outside. “…I’m not going back” Catra decided. “Wait, wha…really?” Adora blurted out. “What, you want us to keep fighting?” Catra replied with a slight smile. Seeing Catra actually smiling after so long, like, without threatening her while she was doing it, made Adora smile back. “Only if you admit that I would’ve won” Adora playfully shot back with a laugh. They both laughed alone in the ship for a few more seconds. It felt good. “You can be such a dork, you know?” Catra laughed before getting up “now let’s get you freed. Brightmoon needs their sparkly tiara giant”. With a slash of She-Ra's sword, Catra cut through Adora’s restraints and helped her to her feet. “Can I get a ride with you guys?” Adora asked sheepishly “Glimmer and the others probably think I was…oh no” “wait, oh no what?” Catra questioned her newfound ally. “OH NO WHAT?! CATRA, YOU CAPTURED ME!” Adora shouted “THE PRINCESSES PROBABLY THINK YOU TURNED ME OVER TO HORDAK!”. Catra stopped for a second letting the points align, then it hit her. “Uuuuuug! Of COURSE the moment I do something good, it turns around and bites me in the tail!” Catra groaned “okay, okay, uuhhhh, oh! I’ve got an idea!”. “Oh yeah? What?” Adora asked. “Hopefully all your time with the sparkle squad hasn’t turned up your nose to a little lying” Catra replied with a grin</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Hearing Catra coming back, Scorpia immediately perked up. “Whoa, uh, hey Catra” Scorpia stammered “so, I know what I said earlier about, y’know, staying, b-but I will totally support whatever you wanna do, because I’m that good of a frie…whoa, hey, is that Adora?”. Adora waved hello from behind Catra. “No time for introductions” Catra chimed in “all you need to know is we’re going back but we are NOT with the Horde anymore.”. “Waiwaiwait. Did you…TAKE ME UP ON MY IDEA?!” Scorpia yelled happily “oooooh this is GREAT! Is Adora staying with us too?! SHOULD I GET HER A JACKE…”. “FOCUS!” Catra snapped before regaining her control “…please, Adora's friends are walking right into danger as we speak because they think I took her to Hordak!”. “Weren’t you going to do that though?” Scorpia questioned. “Well, yeah, but you convinced me not to, one thing led to another and…” before Catra could continue, Scorpia dashed in for a hug. “oh, I knew you had a heart, I knew it!” Scorpia swooned while swinging her bestie that she totally didn’t have a crush on back in forth in a REALLY tight hug. “Uhh…Scorpia?” Adora piped up “I think Catra had a plan to help my friends?”. With a jolt Scorpia stopped, looked down at the kitty in her grasp, and let her down gently. “Aw geez I’m sorry, just, gosh…so excited, y’know? A…whole new life and all” Scorpia rambled out sheepishly “so, what’s the plan, Wildcat?”. “*Ahem* so, here’s the deal…”</p><p> </p><p><br/>“Gaaah, where is Catra?” Entrapta grumbled “ we need that first one tech if we’re going to continue work on the portal!”. “She is not coming back, Entrapta” Hordak injected “Any visit to the Crimson Wastes is a death sentence”. “Oh, that’s ridiculous, Catra has proven her resilience before, she’s sure to make it back” Entrapta rattled off “besides, she has Scorpia with her, and seeing as how her body shares many similarities to members of the fauna in the Wastes, I’m sure that should help with their combined survivability rate”. Hordak huffed. His lab partner was certainly making a point. Multiple points, really. Catra had proven herself to be bold, stubborn, and certainly resil…wait, Scorpia is with her? Hordak was about to question Entrapta, but then his lab doors were busted down as the princess alliance strode in! “HORDAK! YOU WILL RELEASE ADORA THIS MOM…where’s Adora?” Bow started yelling before he noticed that their resident ex-horde soldier wasn’t there. “Hi everybody!” Entrapta greeted everyone with a wave “Adora isn’t here, but you’re free to wait if she’s on her way.”. Everyone stood there confused while Entrapta continued to tinker with a nearby console. “This doesn’t make sense” Glimmer grumbled “Adora was captured by Catra! Shouldn’t she have been taken here by now, she’s with the Horde!”. “That…TRAITOR has nothing to do with my organization any longer!” Hordak snarled “she let our prisoner escape…”. “Excuse me?” a shadow behind the alliance spoke up. Hordak recognized that voice, the voice of yet another traitor. He turned to see Shadow Weaver materialize from the darkness. “I let myself out” Shadoweaver said with a smirk (at least, what Hordak though was a smirk? She still had her mask on and…it just sounded like a smirk, okay?) “I merely bent Catra to my whim”. Hordak had no words, only a snarl building in his throat, but before he could strike, his lab partner gave him a tap on the shoulder. “Hordak? I may have some developments in the portal experiment.” Entrapta murmured “they are DEFINITELY not good ones, disastrous even.”. Hordak trudged over to the console where she was and looked up to the screen. His vision was only met with a virtual Etheria bursting into flames over and over. “If the final piece is introduced to the portal's main build as of right now, there would be NOTHING left of the planet. We need more time!”. Hordak felt himself grow even more angry, yet alongside he felt another emotion. One he did not want to admit, one that his brother would certainly disprove of. Before he could speak up, he was set upon by YET ANOTHER group of unwanted visitors as Catra, Scorpia, and a large portion of her gang strode in, accompanied by Adora. “Heya Hordak and ppppr…..” Catra trailed off as her gaze fixed on the princess alliance “huh. What’s going on here?”. “Uhhh, we were here to save Adora, but I guess we were early?” Mermista spoke up, prepping some sewer water tendrils behind her “also, hey, thanks for handing her over quietly. That IS what you’re going to do, right?”. Catra gave a signal to her gang, letting them know to prep their weapons. “That’s a no, Princess of Puddles” Catra said with a smirk “move one of those tentacles even an inch and you and the princess posse will be paralyzed for, well, long enough to shove you in a cell. Sound like a plan?”. The alliance refused to call her bluff and lowered their weapons. “aww, what good little princesses” Catra mocked before throwing Adora to Hordak “take her. You’ve got all you need, right?”. Adora turned to her friends and gave them a wink, REALLY confusing all of them. “OH NO! YOU HAVE CAPTURED ME, YOU BAD, BAD CAT!” Adora shouted, giving her best shot at feigning distress “NOW I SHALL BE SUBJECT TO HEINOUS EXPERIMENTS AND SURELY PPPPPERISH!”. The room fell silent. Catra stamped over to Adora. “You said you were GOOD at acting!” Catra grumbled. Adora shot back with an indignant huff. “Well, excUSE ME! That was the best performance I have EVER DONE!”. “THAT IS THE BEST YOU COULD DO?!” Catra yelled, volleying back Adora’s anger. “If it means anything, that was her best one in awhile” Perfuma piped up behind an awkward smile. The rest of the princess alliance nodded in agreement. “You’ve gotta be kidding me” Catra stood there dumbfounded. “If I may, Catra, you weren’t too good at acting either”. Catra whirled around to come face to mask with her “favorite” person. “Why on ETHERIA are YOU here?!” Catra yelled out. “ she’s HERE because she was helping us BREAK. IN.” Glimmer interjected “after we thought YOU CAPTURED HER!”. “Yessss dear Catra, I’m one of the heroes now” Shadoweaver sneered “I thought you’d be happier with me gone?”. “I’D BE HAPPIER IF I’D NEVER GIVEN YOU YOUR BADGE YOU PIECE OF-“ Catra snarled back, unsheathing her claws ready to strike, but Adora’s hand on her shoulder kept her back. “Not really the time or place” Adora consoled Catra before shooting a glare at Shadoweaver “you DO deserve to get decked though. After all you did to us”. Shadoweaver, feigning shock, was about to lean in and give her ex-daughters a piece of her mind, but Entrapta intervened. “Sooooo, why’d ya bring Adora here?” Entrapta asked “oh oh oh! Is she the key?”. “Whaaaat? Pfft, nooo” Catra lied, looking away. “Oh, well that’s good, because if the key were to be introduced this early into the portal model it could have cataSTROPHIC results!” Entrapta listed off “buuuuttt if you want to come back in a month or so we could really use you!”. Entrapta then turned to Hordak for agreement, but she only found a confused look on her lab partner's face. “E-Entrapta, perhaps we could…refocus the scale of the experiment?” Hordak muttered “we could transport troops all over! No catastrophe or gilded princess needed!”. “But Hordak, what about your brother?” Entrapta asked, her turn to be confused (as well as everyone else’s, it was big news to hear Hordak of all people had siblings). Hordak turned away, his face sullen for a moment, but returned to Entrapta with a newfound resolve. “Horde Prime no longer matters to me!” Hordak stated with confidence “for all I care, he is the defect!”. Now standing, with his fist to the sky, Hordak shouted “I SHALL BUILD A NEW FLEET! NOT ONE PLAGUED BY MY “BROTHER’S” IDEOLOGIES, BUT ONE OF MY OWN!” he then brought his hand down to Entrapta “and I wish for you to rule by my side”. “Aww, Hordak!” Entrapta squeed, reaching out to take Hordak's hand, but before she could do so, a shadow from the rafters swooped down and SLASHED at Entrapta. Startled, she fell backwards towards the Princess alliance, knocking down Bow and Glimmer in the process. “En..trapta?!” Hordak spoke, shock tinged his voice. “Hello…brother” a voice from behind him spoke. Hordak recognized that voice, because it was his! Hordak whipped around to see Imp sitting on the console, but Imp was not in control, And Hordak knew who was. “The backup…” Hordak muttered, fear on his throat. “OK WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Bow shouted, possibly the most confused out of anyone. “SILENCE ETHERIAN!” Imp shouted…with Hordak's voice “As for you! I was hoping this back up had never needed any use, but apparently this planet has so far plagued your mind that you’d DARE consider INSULTING our dear brother!”. “whoa, you were this bad?” Catra snickered behind Hordak's back “never pinned you as the cult-y type”. Hordak let out a snarl. If it was targeted at Impdak or Catra, no one could tell. “Our “brother” left us behind to DIE!” Hordak yelled out, striking at Impdak “Our “brother” drained our own blood, puppeted our bodies, despite all his posturing, we were WORTHLESS TO HIM”. Impdak paused for a moment, consider this future version of himself's mentality, but shook it off. “You have become so lost, brother. So blind.” Impdak stated outright “if you are not ruling for Horde Prime, you do not deserve to rule at all”. Impdak glanced over to the containers housing the failed clones and with a flying swipe, he trashed all of the terminals accompanying them. Within a second, the tubes began to empty of their amniotic fluids, leaving the clones to fall to the floor, one by one. And within that very moment, each clone's eyes slammed open. “these dear brothers may be imperfect physically, but mentally they stay true to our emperor, our brother” Impdak listed off before shooting a glare at Hordak “something YOU have lost sight of. Now you’ve become imperfect physically and mentally. You have failed yourself, you’ve failed me, and you’ve failed our brother”. With a lunging strike, Impdak hurled himself at his pseudo-brother, slashing at his face time after time. “HORDAK!” Entrapta jumped up, shocked. She attempted to dive in to save him, but a failed clone sped in to strike her down. “you will NOT intrude Etherian!” it garbled out, it’s voice deeper, but strikingly similar to Hordak’s. “Step back, Entrapta! I’ve got this!” Adora spoke with confidence, stepping between failed Hordak and Entrapta “FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!”. In a blinding flash of light, Adora transformed into She-Ra and began striking at the clones. “Hordak! We have to escape!” Adora yelled out as she grabbed at Hordak’s arm “these clones of yours are REALLY powerful!”. “Grr…of course my work on genetic modifications would backfire on me” Hordak pushed out between Impdak's strikes at his arm which now shielded his face “I wanted to build a newer me, A BETTER ME, one that would be more fit to serve…him”. Hordak’s guard weakened as he said this, letting his failsafe get a clean shot at him, right in the eye. “HORDAK!” Entrapta screamed, watching as her lab partner tumbled to the floor, blood streaming from the wounded eye. Enraged, Adora fired a blast of energy towards Impdak, distracting it for long enough that she could grab Hordak and run him to the entrance, the Princess alliance following suit. Before Catra escaped as well she turned to her gang, who were watching stunned as the clones rushed at them. “WHAT THE WASTES ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!” Catra shouted, “FIRE AT WILL!”. Shaking themselves off, the gang member readied their blowpipes and fired dart after dart at the clones. The clones dropped one by one, giving Catra and her gang enough time to escape. The group ran down the halls untill they felt far enough away from the clones. “Quickly Princess!” Shadoweaver ordered Glimmer “I need you once more for the ritual!” Everyone gathered around the two, ready to leave. Everyone except Catra, Scorpia, and the rest of her goons. “Catra? Please! Come on!” Adora pleaded. “And trust Shadoweaver? NO. WAY.” Catra yelled back, her tail fluffing up. “You useless buffoon!” Shadoweaver snapped “now is no time for pleasantries! Now COME”. Using Glimmer as a battery, Shadoweaver magically grabbed Catra and began dragging her over to the incantation. Catra yelped and struggled the whole way, but to no avail. “Shadoweaver, stop! Please!” Adora begged, but, again, to no avail. Shadoweaver was just too far into dragging Catra in the most painful way possible. Seeing no other choice, Adora passed off Hordak's limp form to the Princess alliance and shoved Shadoweaver to the floor. “You wretched chi-“ Shadoweaver started, but was paralyzed by the metaphorical daggers Adora was shooting her. Adora then powered down and jogged over to Catra, who was curled up on the floor, whimpering. “Hey, hey, it’s alright, I’m here” Adora consoled her ally before turning back to the Princess Alliance “ I’ll head back to the Wastes with Catra and the others, you guys take care of Hordak, ok?”. Entrapta Nodded vehemently, already holding him close the her. Adora smiled at them before turning to Shadoweaver once more with a scowl. “And YOU.” Adora growled “Get my friends back safe or I’ll grind your mask into dust, UNDERSTAND?!”. For once in her life, Shadoweaver was scared, but she made sure to shoot back a growl, just to make sure she was still in charge. Pulling Catra’s arm over her shoulder, Adora made her way over to Scorpia (who was utterly frightened for Catra, but she held back because she wasn’t exactly magical enough to handle Shadoweaver. Also, she’s scary.) And the gang members. Once they were out of sight, Shadoweaver got up, grabbed Glimmer by the hand, and teleported them out.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Back in the Wastes, the members who came with Adora, Catra, and Scorpia were gathered around a camp fire, telling chilling stories of experiments gone wrong. Not Catra though, she kept to herself, huddled up on a rock in the corner. “Hey, if it isn’t the leading lady” Adora said walking towards her “are you alright?”. Catra could only let out a mumble. “Come ooooonnnn” Adora pressed “neither of us are with the Horde anymore! You can talk to me.”. when Catra kept silent, Adora decided to move in for the kill. She reached for Catra’s hand, giving it a little rub with her thumb when she grasped it. This got Catra’s attention (drew a blush out of her too). Catra turned to look Adora in the eyes for a moment, and she saw how seriously her blue eyes cared for her. “I’m fine, really!” Catra said with a slight smile before looking away “ it’s just…I’m not entirely over Shadoweaver, you know? She hurt me, hurt us so much, and now she just…gets away with it?”. “I get what you mean, Catra” Adora agreed, looking down to the sand beneath their feet “I wish we could pretend those years never happened, but we can’t. Doesn’t mean we can’t give her hell for it though.”. “oh? And what should we do?” Catra asked with a sly grin. “Lets just day, I hope YOUR time as a force captain hasn’t ruined your ability to have fun” Adora replied, matching Catra’s mischievous smile. After staring into each other’s eyes for a bit, they both laughed off their traumas, for now at least. “Well, I should probably get ready to head back to Brightmoon” Adora spoke, standing up from their shared rock bench “should I try to get in contact with everyone, or will you be able to run me back?”. “Oh, for sure I can getcha there!” Catra replied, shooting up from their seat herself “I mean, we’ve still got that Horde skiff the gang…well…borrowed”. Adora laughed at that “huh, a stolen skiff? Reminds me of that one ride we took after I got promoted”. “A stolen skiff drove us apart, so one brings us together” Catra listed of in her most scholarly voice “kinda…poetic, don’t you think?”. “Well, well! Didn’t know you were one for poetry” Adora laughed, giving Catra a playful punch in the shoulder “I’ll go pick up the sword, think we can head out after I get back?”. “Sure thing!” Catra shot back with a wink “don’t take too long!”. Adora rolled her eyes with a smile, and walked off to where she kept the sword. Catra watched her go with a smile, before slumping back down onto the rock. Not a minute passed by before Scorpia showed up with drinks. “Heya wildcat!” Scorpia piped up “or is it Sandcat now? Eh whatever. Anyways, how are ya? Hurt at all? Anything I could do to help?”. “I’m fine, really!” Catra replied with a small smile “in fact, me and Adora already talked through a few things.”. This brought a small frown to Scorpia's face, but she quickly shook it off. “Well…I bet this drink will make things EVEN. BETTER!” Scorpia stated happily while handing Catra a cup “this sweet little cup o’ nectar is made out of one of those cacti we saw on the way in! Kyle showed me how to make it! Well, not Horde Kyle, Sand Kyle, orrr, Goat Kyle! Gosh we really gotta change up the naming scheme”. “waiwaiwait” Catra interjected “the paralyzing cactus? The one that stunned four arms for, like, hours?”. “Oh, don’t worry! The poison is COMPLETELY removed! …kinda. Ok, if it helps ya out, take a look!” Scorpia reassured before taking a big ol swig of her cup “*AHH!* See? Perfectly normazzzzzzzaaaaaattt!!”. Suddenly, Scorpia fell back, startling everyone in the encampment. “Scorpia? SCORPIA?! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!”. After a few seconds, Scorpia wearily raised a claw. “Yeah…yeah, don’t worry, I am a-o…owww” Scorpia mumbled as she got up “just…wow, that is some REAL powerful stuff! Gotta add though, it is suuuuper sweet! Wanna try?”. “Wooh, uh…probably not now” Catra nervously replied, a relieved chuckle on her breath “gotta get Adora back to Brightmoon. Might take a swig when I get back though.”. “oh, well, sure sure” Scorpia spoke with a small smile “just don’t get lost, alright? Those woods are still REALLY hard to read. Gosh, I sometimes can’t tell my tail from my claws in there!”. Scorpia laughed a bit after she finished with Catra joining a few seconds in. “hey, whaaat are we laughing about?” Adora asked as she walked back up “WAH!” Catra jumped back, her fur on end “oh, uh, hey. We were just talking about this brew the gang makes”. “OOH! Something to drink!” Adora chirped excitedly “ I’ve been thirsty for, like, HOURS!”. Before Catra could stop her, Adora guzzled down the whole cup. “Mmhmm! Oh! That’s pretty sweeeeeeeeee” Adora trailed off before falling over into the sand. “*Tch* welp, she’s out cold” Catra stated “Hey Scorpia, can you carry her to the skiff?”.</p><p> </p><p><br/>“Buuuhhh…hwhuh?” Adora murmured as she sat up “where am I?”. “Aw geez, good.” Catra quipped “I was worried a cup of cactus juice was about to do what I tried to do the past few…huh, wow, how long has it been?”. “Did…did you poison me?” Adora asked, shocked. “HA! I was gonna ask my crew the same thing when they offered me a cup!” Catra snarked with a laugh. They both fell silent for a few moments, letting the wind rip through their hair. “Sooo…about your crew” Adora started “what are you gonna do with em?”. “Well, I’ll…rule and…stuff” Catra mumbled “be the new…PRINCESS OF THE WASTES!”. “*PFFT* oh so now you want to be a princess?” Adora jabbed “I thought you hated us?”. “Well, no! It’s the HORDE who hates princesses and, as I said at camp, neither of us are Horde anymore!” Catra stated proudly. “well, if you want some princess to princess hangout time, I’m totally open to hanging out” Adora said with a smile “ESPECIALLY if it’s another one of those parties. It’d be sweet if I could actually experience one, instead of, y’know, being tied up in a First One's ship”. “Yeah, well, maybe I could throw you one tomorrow?” Catra mumbled, slight blush on her cheeks “as, ya know, an apology or whatever.”. Catra looked down for a moment to see Adora smiling up at her. “it’s a date.” Adora spoke warmly. Quickly, Catra looked back up, partially due to embarrassment, and partially because, well, she was the pilot.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Burst</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>How did I write this so quickly you may ask? Simple! I was halfway through writing it when I made my AO3 account</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Catra dropped Adora off at the steps that led up to the palace and, with a wave, she left back for the Wastes. After reaching the top, Adora was met with a view of Entrapta, curled up near the entrance, mask down, rocking back and forth. “Hey, Entrapta?” Adora spoke up “are you doing well?”. “Oh! N-not as tall one” Entrapta murmured “hello”. Adora could definitely see tears streaking down her cheeks from under the mask. “hey, it’s alright” Adora consoled, sitting down to comfort her twintailed friend “Not-as tall one is here to help”. Entrapta suddenly jumped to her feet, startling Adora. “Oh, that’s right, you can!” Entrapta shouted, excitedly “from the documentation I’ve read on your transformation, She-Ra has shown history of healing properties!”. Entrapta swooped in and clasped Adora’s hands “please blonde one, please heal Hordak!”. Looking in through the lenses of Entrapta's mask, she could see her worry but also her hope. Her hope in She-Ra. Her hope in her. “Well, of course I’ll help!” Adora said with a smile quietly “what are friends for?”. Adora saw the worried eyes turn to glad ones. “Well, what are we waiting for!” Entrapta excitedly squealed, flipping her mask up “lets heal Hordak!”. “I should probably transform out here” Adora interjected “don’t wanna wake anyone up”. “Oh, everyone has been in a meeting since we got back from the Fright-Zone” Entrapta stated “they’re all worried about the Hordak cult gaining portal capabilities and alerting Horde Prime of our universal location. I was trying to assist them, but…I was just too…”. Entrapta stopped and fiddled with her hair. She was turned away , so Adora couldn’t see her face, but Adora could tell how stressed she was. With a flash of light, Adora transformed back into She-Ra and began to walk into the palace, giving Entrapta a reassuring nod as she passed. Adora walked into the room where they kept Hordak and saw him splayed out on a thin bed, his wounded eye covered by gauze and purple cloth. “Mnuh…” Hordak stirred “En…trapta? Is that you?”. He turned in the bed only to be met with Adora’s gaze. “Ah. You.” Hordak stated bluntly “I suppose I should thank you for helping me”. “Hey, don’t thank me yet sir” Adora spoke with a smile “you’re still down an eye”. Channeling her power through the sword of protection, Adora flooded the room in a blinding light. When the light faded, Hordak sat up. “Here, let me get those off ya” Adora offered while powering back down, but Hordak held a hand up to stop her. “I am…perfectly capable” Hordak grunted as he tugged at his bandages “how is Entrapta?”. “She’s…not that great” Adora pushed out “when I came up the stairs, she was curled up near the palace entrance”. Adora was barely able to finish before Hordak dashed out of the room, likely in the pursuit of comforting her. Before Adora could follow suit, she heard Glimmer teleport in behind her. “ADORA!” Glimmer shouted “thank goodness! We need you in the war room!”. “wait, how did you know where I was?” Adora questioned “I was super silent!”. “You let out a glow, like, 5 runestones bright when you transform into a 8 foot tall lady” Glimmer rambled with a pout “now COME ON!”. With a sparkle, Adora and Glimmer teleported to the war room. Adora looked around as they teleported in and saw everyone gathered around the table, tired and scared. “ah, Adora, welcome” Angella greeted as they teleported in “I trust our allies in the Wastes are well?”. “Wait, Catra?” Adora asked, confused “oh, she’s fiiine. ComPLETELY renounced the Horde!”. “That is certainly grand to hear” Angella spoke with a smile “now, I’m sure Entrapta filled you in on our worries?”. “Yep, we need a way to…wait, you KNEW she was out there?” Adora asked “couldn’t you have had someone out there with her?”. “our hands were tied, Adora” Bow brought up “we would’ve kept with her, really, we would’ve”. “B-but, hey!” Glimmer stammered out “at least Hordak is healed up, right? She’s got someone now!”. “…right. Right, sorry.” Adora muttered “it’s just…I feel responsible for leaving her behind back in that raid on the Fright-Zone. I want her to feel like she’s not alone here”. “Adora, I’m sure it will be fine. We are all allies within the alliance” Angella spoke up, attempting to assuage Adora’s worries “but we truly must focus on the threats ahead”. “Of course, your majesty. My apologies” Adora apologized “Alright! I can talk with Light-Hope on any possibilities of stopping them. If we need any leads on First One’s tech, she will be a big help”. “And I will work on a way to disable it with Entrapta and…Hordak” Bow trailed off “sorry, it’s just so weird to say”. “I’ve got some Octopus I could probably send in to spy on the cult or whatever” Mermista grumbled out, mostly due to the fatigue “they’re, like, really good at squeezing into gaps”. Everyone stopped and stared at Mermista. “What? Everyone else is making suggestions.” She mumbled. “ooookay, maybe we should get some shut-eye” Glimmer chirped. The alliance agreed. There’s not much more they could do now besides resting up. Everyone walked on out, Adora about to follow suit, but something goaded her to stop. To stay. “Adora? Why are you still here?” Angella asked. “I’m…sorry” Adora’ apologized “I’m not sure why, but…I’m sorry”. Suddenly, Adora started crying. Why? Why did she start crying? She just felt…felt like Angella was lost? But she was here? Suddenly, she felt Angella embrace her in a hug. “It’s alright, Adora” Angella whispered “I feel it too. I’m here.”. They embraced there for a minute, mourning for a world they did not know.</p><p> </p><p><br/>In the morning, Adora was abruptly woken up by her comms pad ringing. “BUH! WHA! HUH!?” Adora’ flailed about before grabbing at the pad “Hell-hello? What’s up?”. “Hey Adora” Catra mewled over the other end “Ready for today’s party?”. Adora shot to attention. “Gaah! The party!” Adora grumbled “sorry Catra, I’ve got to talk to Light-Hope today. Need to talk to her about the Hordaks and stuff”. Catra looked crestfallen for a bit, but she snapped back with a grin. “Hey, it’s fine!” Catra reassured “What if I come with you?”. “do you even know who Light-Hope is?” Adora asked. “Nope!” Catra chirped bluntly “is she not some other princess?”. “Remember that one time we got stuck in the beacon and had all those flashbacks?” Adora brought up “she’s the one IN CHARGE of all that!”. Catra spent a few seconds spaced out, recalling the “fun” time they had in their little lock in. “Uhh…pfft!” Catra shrugged off, or at least pretended to “what’s a few giant spiders between friends?”. “eh, well if you’re up to it” Adora shrugged with a smug grin “I’ll see you…uh…whenever you can get here”. “Oh, right, you’re in the castle and I’m in…the middle of the desert…huh” Catra stumbled “well, I could use the ski…wait, wait, that was stolen. Again”. They both sat on either end of their communicators, considering their possibilities. “oh!” Adora shouted with a facepalm “Swifty! I can send SwiftWind over!”. This suggestion was only met with a cringe from Catra. “oh come on, what’s the issue?” Adora asked “is it the maybe falling thing? You have Literally fallen farther distances than SwiftWind's max!”. “YEAH! WHEN I HAD SOMEONE TO CATCH ME!” Catra retorted “also, like, Horses never forget and stuff. What if he drops me for hurting you?”. “that’s elephants, Catra” Adora corrected “ok, look, I’ll tell him to fly low, alright? That good enough for my widdle sand princess?”. “At least I’m on the ground in the Wastes” Catra grumbled “tch, fine send your dumb horse”. “Love ya too, Catra” Adora said with a joking smooch before disconnecting. “Alright, gotta call Swifty”</p><p> </p><p><br/>Catra blushed on the other side of the disconnected communicator, shaking off…whatever she was feeling. She honestly wished she was partying right now, but her crew was completely out of supplies, so she had them go out and “acquire” stuff. They did have more of that cactus swill, buuuut she didn’t feel like dealing with paralysis, especially while her ride was on the way. “…UGH! IM SO BORED!” Catra moaned, falling backwards onto her “throne” “I thought Adora would send her wing horse over faster”. Suddenly, Scorpia burst into their hideout. “CATRA! Uh, hey, so, we’ve got an issue” She stammered “so those weird grub Hordak’s? Yeah, there’s a lot of them now and they’re closing in on that ship”. Catra shot up. “a lot?” She thought to herself “shouldn’t there just be 6 of them or something?”. “Where’s the crew?” Catra asked, a slight growl tingeing her voice “Do we have ANYONE we can send out there?”. “uh, well, you see…no” Scorpia stammered “but hey, we’re here! I’m sure there’s nothing the Super Best Friend Duo can’t do!”. Catra was about to let out another groan, but she stifled herself. “You know what? This could be fun!” Catra smirked, holding up her whip “I do need a bit of training with this thing anyways”.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“CONTINUE TO STRIKE THAT DOOR!” a garbled voice struggled out of the failed clone that looked the most together “WE REQUIRE WHATEVER TECH THIS INCURSION SHIP HOLDS IF WE ARE TO CONTACT HORDE PRIME!”. As if by the mention of Horde Prime’s name, the failed clone drones began to more violently slam their gelatinous, barely functional forms against the door into Mara's cockpit. “HORDE PRIME………HORDE…….PRIME……” the pile chanted in a barely coherent manner. “Ha ha, WOW. Compared to those meat lumps, you look like a perfect clone, Slugdak!” a voice from above the clones rang out. The slug Hordak looked up to see Catra and Scorpia looking down on them. “REBELLION SCUM” the failed clone growled “BROTHERS, A CHANGE OF TACTICS! STRIKE DOWN THE OPPOSITION!”. The lump clones whipped around and began diving towards the sand gang duo. With a smirk, Catra whipped out her…whip and lashed at the sand around the two of them, spraying up sand into the clones eyes (or at least what she thought were eyes). The lump clones growled and snarled, lashing violently, until all at once they were silent. The sand settled with Catra’s whip retracting from one downed clone while Scorpia was removing her stinger from another. “Wow, those failed clones we’re super hard” Catra lied through her teeth “I can see how Horde Prime will definitely accept your GREAT power”. Scorpia mouthed an “ooooohhhh!” as she brought her claw to her face. The failed Hordak growled, but then switched to a sudden grin (at least, that’s what Catra thought it was? Kinda hard to tell, what with being a failed clone and all). “YOU UTTER CRETIN!” the Clonedak shouted “WHERE I LACK NUMBERS I MAKE UP FOR IN STRENGTH!”. Suddenly the clone began to writhe and undulate before thousands of spikes began to grow out from every angle of it’s sluglike form. Trying to get a preemptive strike, Catra lashed her whip at the pulsating mass, but as the tip slapped itself against one of the spikes, it melted right off. “ok, now THAT is scary” Scorpia stated bluntly. With a snarl, the failed clone lashed out at the duo, but before it could land a single corrosive spike on the duo, a rainbow blast of energy shout out of the sky, slamming the Toxiclone to the sand. With a whinny, the sandy duo's hero landed and posed valiantly. “DID SOMEBODY SAY….SWIFTWIND?!”</p><p> </p><p><br/>“something’s wrong” Adora shouted as she shot up. She could sense SwiftWind’s distress thanks to their /SACRED BOND/ and if Swifty was in danger, Catra was. Adora panicked as she fumbled about, frantically searching for the Sword of Protection. As she dashed for the door, something stopped her. A…thought. “Why should I worry?” Adora thought to herself, at least, she thought she thought to herself “Catra and Scorpia are strong as HECK, and Swifty is with them! What’s the worry?”. This thought turned her around instantaneously, subconsciously, to her surprise. “I…I’m sure I can just meet them at the Beacon” Adora muttered as she walked to the door. Much to her surprise though, she had a visitor. Hordak was on the other side, his arm raised as if to knock. “Ah, hello Adora” Hordak deadpanned, although he looked mildly startled “Entrapta wished to speak with you”. “O-oh! Hey Hordak!” Adora spoke, the surprise on her face much more visible than his “could it wait, I gotta head to the Beacon”. Suddenly, Hordak leaned in, his face dropping into a grimace. “You will NOT deny her.” He growled. Whatever was subconsciously driving Adora the Beacon was consciously overpowered by Hordak in her face. “Wuhhh….ok!” Adora slurred out “let’s go!”. The grimace turned to a satisfied smile. Together, they walked down to the spare room that Entrapta and Hordak co-opted as a lab. “So….you and Entrapta, eh?” Adora muttered out, garnering an visible reaction from Hordak “I’m not judging you for it, just…didn’t expect it”. “we were both left alone in this wretched world. I felt the need to assist her” Hordak sputtered “also, she is very useful with tech”. “Right, yeah” Adora said with a small smile before it turned into a frown “it’s good she found someone to be close to her, especially after we…after I…”. Adora suddenly felt Hordak’s hand on her shoulder. “You have no need to worry about the past” Hordak stated bluntly “she’s here now. Make up for it”. Adora smiled up at Hordak, Hordak only looked away. She could see the blush on the tips of his ears though. Hordak led Adora into the lab, making sure to clear the entrance of any floor bound tech. “Entrapt-“ Hordak started before being suddenly interrupted by tendrils of hair wrapping his torso. “OH HORDAK! I’m so glad you’re back!” Entrapta chirped “I’ve got more data on that failsafe inhi-oh hello Adora!”. “Hey…wait, you said my name!” Adora started before being taken aback. “well, of course!” Entrapta stated “you saved Hordak, he’s important to me, and so intrinsically, the importance surrounding Hordak rubbed off on you, so it helps me remember your name now!”. “I got a little lost in there, but overall I’m touched!” Adora said with a grin “so, what do you want me for?”. “OH OH OH! RIGHT!” Entrapta shouted excitedly “feast your eyes on THIS!”. Entrapta reached her hair back into a pile and pulled out a high tech looking shield. “TA DA! OK SO I NOTICED THAT YOU SOMETIMES TURN YOUR SWORD INTO A SHIELD SO I THOUGHT HOW ABOUT I MAKE YOU A SHIELD SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO SACRIFICE OFFENCE FOR DEFENCE! GREAT RIGHT?!” Entrapta rambled off. Adora needed a few seconds to process what she said, but after it all clicked, her face broke into a grin. “Oh! This is actually great!” Adora quipped, looking the buckler up and down “very well made too! Nice metal and Everything!”. “Oh, Hordak helped me with the specifications!” Entrapta brought up, nudging her lab partner in the arm with her hair “im not much for combat, more into science and algorithms and whatnot, but HORDAK, Hordak managed to draw up a blueprint for EVERYTHING! Pretty great right?!”. Adora looked up to Hordak, only to see him looking away. “it’s…it’s based off of a shield design from a world I…visited when I “traveled” with my “brother” Hordak mumbled out “the idea was more Entrapta’s though, I merely provided the image”. “Well, I love it, really!” Adora smiled at both of them before pulling them into a hug “thank you both!”. Both Entrapta and Hordak, not used to physical affection, were very uncomfortable. They let Adora run her course though, she seemed happy. “Alllright, time to get to the beacon!”. “aren’t you waiting on Catra?” Entrapta asked. Adora immediately turned to her, a quizzical look on her face. “How…how did…” Adora stammered. “Oh, your bird horse hybrid told me so” Entrapta stated matter of factly “it’s really strange that it can talk though, can I experiment on it when it gets back?”. “oh, right, Swifty went to pick u…” Adora trailed off before she suddenly remembered “SWIFTY! OH NO THEY’RE IN DANGER! I GOTTA GO!”. “WAIT, take Emily with you!” Entrapta shouted after her. Adora stopped in the doorway. “Wait, your robot? She’s here?” Adora asked. “Yep!” Entrapta chirped “she showed up last night!”. Entrapta whistled loudly and Emily rolled out of a nearby junk pile, blipping happily. “I amped up her leg mechanisms, so she should be able to move at ASTRONOMICAL speeds!” Entrapta listed off as she slapped Emily on the top of her chassis “let me juuuuuuuust”. With an audible *boop* Entrapta pressed a button on the back of Emily which caused two handles pop up out of Emily’s head. “sooo…how do I…do I just get on top of her?” Adora asked. Entrapta violently nodded in response. Cautiously, Adora clambored on top of Emily and grabbed her by the handles. “Soooo, what now?” Adora asked. “now? Now ya GET!” Entrapta shouted as she (lightly) slapped Emily on the rear. Suddenly, Emily reared up and dashed out of the room. “I ALWAYS wanted to do that!” Entrapta giggled, turning to Hordak “I saw that in a western once!”. “A…western?” Hordak questioned “how do you view a direction?”. Entrapta let out a huge gasp “oh. My. Etherian skies.” Entrapta spaced out “you have GOT to see Bio Blast the Kid! I know let’s see if the Brightmoon library has any videos! Let’s go!”. Before Hordak could interject, he was already wrapped in one of Entrapta’s ponytails as she dashed out of the lab.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Emily dashed out of the Palace, carrying Adora in tow. “Wh-whoa Emily!” Adora fumbled “whoaaaagh!”. Suddenly, Emily ground to a halt. “Em…ily?” Adora questioned “I know I told you to slow down, bu-“. “Adora.” A voice deadpanned out of Emily. “Wh-wha?” Adora spouted, utterly confused “Light-Hope? Why are you…in Emily?”. “I attempted to contact you through the sword's connection to your mind” Light-Hope stated “did you not get the thought?”. “Wait…you, controlled my thoughts?!” Adora recoiled, shocked “that’s not a good thing to DO Light-Hope”. “Irrelevant, now, come to the beacon. We have much to discuss.” Light-Hope deadpanned. Suddenly there was a loud *KZZZRT* and Emily’s light returned to a normal purple. “are you ok Emily?” Adora asked, worried. She was answered with a tired *bwoowoo*. “well, I guess we’re going to the Beacon” Adora muttered “I hope Catra and the others are okay”.</p><p> </p><p><br/>They weren’t. In fact, they were currently running from the spiny worm clone. SwiftWind whirled around and launched blast after blast at the clone, but it deftly dodged around. “Uh, guys?” SwiftWind shouted, worried “it’s starting to learn!”. “Oh no oh no oh no, what do we do?!” Scorpia panicked as she ran with the group. Luckily, thanks to Shadoweaver's “training”, Catra was good at thinking on her feet. “Hey, horse!” Catra yelled behind her “You’re connected to Adora, right?”. “I HAVE A NAME! IT’S SWIFTWIND!” SwiftWind yelled back “AND YEAH! IT’S PART OF OUR /SACRED BOND/!”. “Cool, yeah, whatever!” Catra shot back “can you get us into the ship cockpit?! Adora was able to get in there!”. With a nod, SwiftWind sped up, getting Catra and Scorpia to hop on. He quickly dashed up into the ship, opened the door, and sped into the cockpit. Everyone stopped to catch their breath, they didn’t have much time though because they soon heard the failed clone slam against the door. “REBEL SCUM!” the clone garbled with a snarl “YOU WILL SUCCUMB SOONER OR LATER!”. “*huff, huff* you know, when you *whoof* clear through the garbling, he does kinda sound like Hordak” Scorpia pushed out. “Luckily, insults should be all he’s got” Catra Huffed, “I saw how well 20 of those clone did while trying to open this, one can’t do s-“. But before she could continue, a spike began to melt through the door. “WELL, WHAT NOW WHISKERS?!” SwiftWind screeched at Catra. Another spike melted through. “I…I DON’T KNOW!” Catra yelled back “I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IF WE’D GET THIS FAR!”. The two began to bicker as Scorpia stood bad, her claws to her head. “No no no no no, this can’t be happening” She panicked “Im too young to die, I’m too YOUNG TO DIE!”. Accompanying her shout, a blast of lightning struck the ship, rocking it around. Everyone stopped, even the clone. The horse and cat looked back to see Scorpia standing there, her eyes glowing red, lightning crackling between her pincers. “Open the door” she spoke in an deeper voice. With one quick movement, SwiftWind went and opened the door and then quickly hid behind a terminal, Catra joining him. Soon, she was face to face (?) With the clone, which seemed almost fearful. “You…have magic?” the clone garbled out, shocked. Scorpia just stood there, silent. This angered the clone. “You…are a princess.” It growled “you…TRAITOR!”. The spined lump lunged at Scorpia, but at the last minute, Scorpia slammed her claws together and launched a massive blast with a *KRA KA KA KOOM!*. SwiftWind moved a wing on front of Catra and himself to shield them from the blinding light. When it subsided, it was only Scorpia that remained. “Scorp…ia?” Catra cautiously piped up “are you alright?”. Scorpia's face shot a glance over to the two, which honestly scared them both. But Scorpia did nothing but give them a small smile before passing out, the lightning between her claws dissipating. Catra and SwiftWind dashed over to her, shocked (in the metaphorical sense). “Wha-what happened?” SwiftWind asked, still startled. Catra only stared into Scorpia’s closed eyes, and with a quick breath, she spoke up.</p><p> </p><p>“Scorpia has magic”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Technical Support</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wow, that last chapter was ELECTRIFYING eh? Hahahaha....ha....hm. Anyways, possible arachnophobia tw, because there are a few scenes with giant spiders in here.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Adora and Emily tapped up to the entrance of the Beacon. “Alright!” Adora grunted while hoisting her off Emily “you should probably head on back Emily. Something is up with Light-Hope, and I don’t want her possessing you again.”. with an agreeing *bwee bwee*, Emily scampered off back towards Brightmoon. As Adora opened up the door and walked in, her eyes were met with a dark room, with Light-Hope in the middle. “Adora. Welcome.” Light-Hope greeted, more mechanically than usual. The path to her lit up, but not in a mechanical way. It was almost as if something scurried away from the path, as if it was scared. “Light-Hope? What’s going on?” Adora asked “and what’s with the…creepy lighting?”. “I’m afraid I do not understand” Light-Hope deadpanned “the main hall is lit as it has always been”. Adora could clearly sense something is up. “You know what? Okay.” Adora concluded “that’s not why I’m here anyways. I need to talk to you about”. “The clones of Hordak led by that small imp.” Light-Hope interrupted “I have called you here to speak about them too”. “Oh, well that’s good!” Adora piped up “So how are we gonna beat the…”. “You are to abandon the Brightmoon alliance and work with the Horde” Light-Hope interrupted. This stopped Adora in her tracks. “…what did you say?” Adora asked, hoping to the starless skies above that she misheard her. “you have not misheard me, Adora” Light-Hope stated, a worrying sternness in her voice “you are to abandon Brightmoon”. Adora was so stunned she stepped back, but instead of free air around her she was instead met with a writhing black mass. Adora spun around, her eyes locking with a wall of red orbs, all staring at her. All of the sudden, Adora realized Light-Hope was right. The lights were, in fact on, it’s just the entire room was crawling with the Beacon's defense spiders“wha...What is This?!” Adora shouted, causing the walls to light up with red eyes. “I am sorry that it has been this way” Light hope stated “my new superiors desire your assistance. They, nor I, will take no for an answer”. “Let them know they will be disappointed!” Adora angrily shouted, drawing her sword and shield “FOR THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!”. Nothing happened. Adora looked down to the blade in confusion. “I am disappointed by this” Light-Hope growled, yet without a change in her face “Adora: you have been compromised”. As Light-Hope said this, the defense spiders lunged at Adora. Without an 8 foot tall sparkly lady to rely on, Adora panicked and ducked down, holding the shield above her, hoping it would block at least a few of the opposing attacks so she could get some planning in. What she didn’t realize is that her finger slid across a trigger on the shields handle, accidentally pressing it. An electrified pulse released from the shield, blasting all of the attacking arachnids backwards. Not feeling legs clawing at her back or stringy goop wrapping her up, Adora stood up and looked around, seeing all the foes she blasted aside. “Huh” Adora thought to herself “cool!”. “Impo…impossi…ble” Light-Hope muttered behind Adora, her voice even more glitchy than before. Fed up, Adora turned to Light-Hope to see her visibly bugging out. Fed up, Adora strode up to her hologram. “Light-Hope, this isn’t you!” Adora shouted “Please, if you’re in there, SPEAK TO ME!”. Only Static and garbled speech emitted from Light-Hope. Worried, Adora looked down to the shield. “geez, did I break her?” Adora muttered worriedly “I guess I shouldn’t expect Entrapta to cut corners”. “Right hallway” a voice sputtered out of the hologram, surprising Adora “the hallway to your right, please! I can’t hold her!”. Wasting no time, Adora dashed to her right, running untill she came to a dead end. “What? But didn’t she…” Adora started before a loud THUNK behind her got her attention. She whirled around to see a single spider baring down on her slowly. “….NO NO NO!” Adora shouted “I thought, I thought that…did she get into my head?! OH WHY DID I TRUST HER?!”. As the Spider bore down on her, Adora readied herself, shield in one hand, sword in the other, gritting her teeth for a She-Ra-less fight. But, suddenly, the spider struck the ceiling with it’s hind legs, causing it to crumble behind it. “Wh-wha?” Adora stammered confused “What’s going on?”. As she finished, she saw the eyes on the spider turn from a red to a blue, and heard a voice emanate from it. “Ally of Mara, welcome” the voice spoke in a similar voice to Light-Hope's, but it was…different, more emotion “I would ask how you are, but judging from your elevated heart rate and panicked expression, I would assume your answer to be: not that great”. “Light…Hope?” Adora asked, confused “and , wait, ally of Mara? You know my name…right?”. “that is not the case, disappointingly” The Spider-Hope spoke with a sullen tone “for I am the original, Light-Hope 1.0 as my creators would deign”. “1.0?” Adora asked “wait, you’re Mara’s Light-Hope?!”. “I would not consider myself owned by anyone” the voice spoke with offence “in fact, Mara treated me as a friend, an ally even. At least, before my human relations programming was rendered obsolete by my 1.3 update. They truly did not enjoy how Mara was beginning to “ruin” my programming by treating me as a human.”. “I do have to say, you’ve got a lot more emotion than my Light-Hope” Adora said with a nervous chuckle, still not sure she could trust this giant spider talking to her. “I am certainly aware of how your updated version of Light-Hope acts” Spider-Hope spoke with a grumble “when she severed my code from the other versions in an attempt to rescue some version of herself from the virus, she did seem a lot more robotic”. “hold on, hold ON!” Adora shouted “What virus?!”. “Ah, yes, my apologies. The task at hand, and the reason I’m in…this” Spider-Hope stated, using her eyes to gesture about her temporary form “this may merely be a theory, but due to the Hordak consciousness also seemingly being an original, it retained knowledge of it’s time with it’s master, causing it to remember locations across the planet, locations, additionally, imperative to my core functioning. Due to current conditions, if I may make a long take shorter, every watchtower across Etheria has breached and possessed by The Hordak Clones, causing my main programming to fall under Horde control.”. “and with her possessed, she has control over me” Adora added, crestfallen “with her under control, I cannot go She-Ra” . “That may not entirely be the case, ally of Mara” Spider-Hope stated “with me being severed from the main Light-Hope code, I have essentially become a, to put it bluntly, “tech ghost”. If you would allow me to connect with the Sword of Protection, I may be able to sever my virus laden counterpart’s connection to your mind”. Adora was certainly unsure of this plan. Was it the talking spider? Yes. Was it the fact that it was talking in the same voice of the ai woman that just attacked her? Also yes. But, she didn’t have any better plans, and there was a pile of rubble that only an 8 foot princess of power could handle. “Alright” Adora concluded “how do I…uh, get you integrated?”. “Hold the sword to my temporary form's head, I will attempt the rest”. Hesitantly, Adora held the blade to Spider-Hope's head. The small corner they were both stuck in was bathed in a blinding light, and when it subsided, Adora felt notably more powerful and clear headed. “Uh, Nice Light-Hope? Are you…in there?”. No answer. This got Adora worried. Was she now stuck in here? Will she have to dig her way out? What abou… “LOUD NOISE!” a voice within the Sword of protection shouted, causing Adora to fall back on to her butt. “bgah!” Adora shouted “Light-Hope?! Is this really the time?!”. “My apologies” Light-Hope…well, apologized from within the sword “I was merely testing my ability to make, what Mara once called, 'a prank'. She did one to me once, but her noise was more of a 'wah!’ instead of 'loud noise!’.Anyways should we attempt the transformation now?”. Stifling a groan brought up from this Light-Hope’s “prank”, Adora held the sword abover her head and shouted “FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!”. With another blinding flash of light, Adora transformed into She-Ra! “Whoa! Yes!” Adora shouted excitedly “It worked! I can transform again!”. “As Mara once said, “there is no need to thank me” Light-Hope spoke from within the sword, Adora swearing she could hear some pride in her mechanical voice “now, shall we break through this pile?”. With a confident nod, Adora raised her shield and dashed at the rubble pile for a powerful shield bash, making sure to press the wave trigger at the last moment to deal some extra oomph. As the rubble subsided, Adora was met with Virus-Hope, a stunned look on her face. “Impossible” she stated “the block I have on your mind should render your powers ineffective. A compromised unit should not have such power!”. “With all due respect, you’re compromised!” Adora shouted. She then blasted her sword with a pulse of energy from her shield and started charging towards the end of the hall where Virus-Hope was projected. “You…you will not DISOBEY!” Virus-Hope uncharacteristically snarled, her face smashing into a grimace. As she yelled that, defense spiders spilled in from the end of the hall, but Adora was ready. The pulse that she shot into her sword was actually stored for this exact moment. With a wide slash, Adora shot a crescent of energy through the hall towards the assailing arachnids, cutting them all in two. When she got up to Virus-Hope, she didn’t hold the sword to her, but the shield. “sorry, Virus-Hope” Adora said with a grin “but I’ve got to flatten the curve.”. With a blast from the shield, the hologram nearly completely dissipated. “That should buy us some time” Adora huffed “let’s get out of here!”. Adora dashed for the exit, but the door would not open. “Nonono! What now!?”. “hold your runestone up to the door!” Light-Hope commanded “I may be able to open it”. Adora raised the hilt of the sword to where the runestone made contact with the door. After some sparking and grumbling from within the blade, Light-Hope was able to get the door to open, and not a moment too soon, because a hologram was slowly reforming behind them, but it wasn’t blue, it was… green? Not daring to stay around for long, Adora dashed out the door and raised her runestone up to close it once they were out. As the door closed, Adora looked back to see four green eyes staring at her from the darkened crack. Eyes that pierced her soul and sent chills down her spine. With a resounding *THOOM* the door closed. “Well, I am certainly grateful to make it out of there with my code intact” Light-Hope sighed “you would not BELIEVE how long I resided in my counterpart’s trash code”. “Well, I’m certainly glad to have you here!” Adora said with a relieved laugh “if you hadn’t crawled out, I would’ve been the Horde's puppet too!”. “Well, no matter the version, it is in my programming to assist She-Ra.” Light-Hope stated with a confidence in her voice “by the by, now that my virus infected newer model is not attacking us, can I ask for your name?”. “Oh, it’s Adora” Adora offered. This brought an audible “huh” out of Light-Hope. “Is there an issue?” Adora asked her sword bound traveler. “Oh, it’s nothing” Light-Hope reassured “it’s just…a strange old woman once called Mara by that same name”. “Huh, do you remember her name?”. “I’m…afraid not. Being brought out of technological stasis after so long must have affected my memory” Light-Hope muttered. “Well, I’m sure the rebellion's resident techies can help ya out!” Adora mentioned proudly “Bow, Entrapta, and Hordak are REALLY good wi…”. “HORDAK?!” Light-Hope shouted, causing the sword to physically jump “YOU HAVE LET THE HORDE LEADER INTO YOUR RANKS?!”. “Hey, hey, easy! Ex-horde leader!” Adora consoled “also, Princess Entrapta of Dryl has really mellowed him down!”. “Hmmmm….” Light-Hope grumbled, unconvinced “well, if he’s working with a princess now, perhaps I can trust him”. “That’s great to hear!” Adora chirped with a grin “now, I suppose we should head back. Since Catra and the others are not here, maaaaaybe they’re at the palace?”.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Scorpia woke up on a fluffy mattress made of dried plants in an offshoot cave from their gang’s main hideout. “Oooohhh, woof, WOW my head!” Scorpia moaned, holding a claw to her head “did I down too much of that cactus juice? I coulda sworn I would’ve been more resilient to that stuff by now”. As Scorpia shot up, Catra strode in through the door. “Well well, if it isn’t our resident magic user” Catra quipped with a grin “how was your sleep? Any SHOCKING dreams?”. “whoa, hey, wait!” Scorpia backtracked in surprise “so, I DIDN’T pass out from sweet stinging cactus juice, but INSTEAD from shooting a lightning blast from my claws at a weird worm thing?”. “Yeah, pretty much.” Catra concluded. Scorpia fell back into her plant mattress, a look of shock on her face. “Woof, so it wasn’t a dream” Scorpia muttered “huh. Well, how’s that winged horse guy? What was his name? Fastbreeze?”. “oh, he flew black to Brightmoon.” Catra explained “I’m sure he’s got quite a story for the sparkle squad. Why didn’t you tell me you had magic?!”. “Well…I, uh, I didn’t know I did” Scorpia trailed off “I mean, well, I’ve never been able to connect to the black garnet, so I dunno where all that power came from”. “well, no matter where it came from, we’re lucky it happened” Catra said with a smirk, punching Scorpia in the claw “you really saved us Scorpia”. “Whoa ow! But…yeah!” Scorpia said, looking down to her claws “I guess I did.”. they sat there for a bit, not exactly sure what else to talk about. I mean, after your friend shoots lightning out of her hands…er, claws, what else can you talk about? Luckily for them, they heard their gang push in through the front of their hideout, likely with party stuff in tow if they did their job right. “Welp, looks like the crew is back” Catra looked to the door with a grin “ready for another romp?”. “Uh, yeah, sure” Scorpia muttered with a weary smile “Just uh, just let me process this”. With a shrug, Catra strode out of the room, leaving Scorpia to stare at her own two pincers. Did she really…use magic? Ever since she was a little scorpling, she dreamed about using magic one day but now that it was here, crackling beneath her carapace, she was…divided to say the least. She was thrilled, certainly, she finally felt a connection to her people, a connection she felt was missing up until now, but also…she was scared. Scared to have such power at her tips, scared that she might accidentally hurt someone who doesn’t deserve it, scared that it won’t kick in when she needs to hurt someone who does. “Just…I just have no idea what to do” Scorpia muttered to herself, putting her pincers up to her head. All of the sudden though, a thought crossed her mind like a bolt of electricity shooting across a Jacob’s ladder: TRAIN. “Huh. YEAH!” Scorpia shouted with confidence, her face transforming from a worried frown to a daring smile “yeah, I could train! Thanks…uh, thanks my brain!”. She got up from her Plant mattress and half walked, half ran through her rooms curtain door and out of the front of the hideout. As she strode out, a character in the shadows smiled a warm smile. Catra walked out of the dark, holding that smile on her face. She wasn’t entirely the best at consoling people, but she still worried about Scorpia, so she had stood nearby her room, listening in on her, hoping she’d be alright. Luckily for her, she was. With her warm smile transforming into a playful grin, Catra ran into the next room, joining the festivities, comfortable in the fact that Scorpia was comfortable herself.</p><p> </p><p><br/>As Adora walked up to Hordak and Entrapta's lab, she saw Bow walking the same way. “oh Adora, you’re back!” Bow greeted “…whyyy didn’t you come back with SwiftWind?”. “Oh, okay, so, big problem” Adora immediately started, “actually, let’s head in together so I can bring it up with Entrapta and Hordak”. “Well, okay” Bow said with a shrug. The both pushed their way through into the lab to see Entrapta and Hordak poring over a hologram in the middle showing Etheria being teleported on repeat. “Oh, Adora’! Bow! Welcome!” Entrapta greeted “Emily told me you got redirected to the Beacon by Light-Hope! Did you get to meet with her?”. “Well…uh, yeah you could say that…” Adora stammered, garnering a quizzical reaction from the Techmaster group “she’s been hacked by the Horde”. A resounding “WHAT?!” rocked through the lab. “but how?” Hordak asked, a look of shock on his usually stoic face “in all my time I have NEVER been able to effectively control such ancient technology!”. “Well, the guess is…well, I should just let her tell you” Adora placed her sword on the table, much to everyone’s confusion. The sword continued to stay silent. “Uh, Adora?” Bow asked “who’s her?’. Adora groaned. It’s Light-Hope trying to pull a prank again? “LIGHT HOPE GET OUT HERE!” Adora angrily shouted at her sword “now is not the time for pranks!”. “There is no prank this time” Light-Hope’s voice spoke behind her, causing everyone in the lab to jump “ I am merely, as you would say, 'stretching my receptors”. Such a small runestone can be rather cramped.”. Adora whirled around to see Light-Hope’s face staring down on her and the others. Her presence certainly garnered a reaction from everyone. Mostly shock, some fear. One twintailed scientist wore excitement like a glove. “uh…everyone?” Adora piped up “this…this is Light-Hope 1.0! She was with Mara”. “Hello there!” Light-Hope greeted with a smile “if you are worrying about it, I will reassure you that I am not the Hacked client Adora spoke of. She can attest to that herself”. Everyone’s gaze turned to Adora, who could only offer a forced smile and a thumbs up. “This…is…amazing!” Entrapta squealed “how are you inhabiting my terminal?! Is it some sort of technological example or is it magic?! CAN YOU POSESS MY MASK AND SHOW UP IN MY LENSES?!”. “as living dead code, I am capable of inhabiting most tech due to my lack of a physical presence, it is a mixture of magic and technology, and if you have a fair amount of technology in those lenses, then yes!” Light-Hope listed off “were my answers helpful?”. “VERY.” Entrapta blurted, her gaze not moving off of Light-Hope’s screen. Well, I gotta say, this is a development” Bow stated, the shock mildly leaving his face, but what do we call you? You know, with Light-Hope also being controlled by the Horde and all”. “Oh Oh Oh!” Adora interjected “how about we call the evil one VIRUS-HOPE?!”. The room fell silent, all staring at Adora (except for Entrapta who was still enamored by Light-Hope). “…what? I thought it sounded cool” Adora pouted “also I already called her that when I blasted her in the face with a pulse from the shield. Uh, thanks for that extra bit, by the way. It REALLY saved me in the Beacon!”. Adora turned to Entrapta for that last part, but she was still staring at Light-Hope with stars in her eyes. “Entrapta?” Hordak asked “are you feeling alright?”. “Bwha?” Entrapta whirled around “oh! Yes! Definitely! It’s merely the fact that I have NEVER experienced a phenomena like this! In all my time with AI I have NEVER experienced a sentient man-made intelligence become a ghost! Do we have enough time for me to research her?!”. “I am afraid not, princess of Dryl” Light-Hope spoke, disappointment in her voice (much to the surprise of Adora. She’s still not entirely used to the whole “Light-Hope actually showing emotion” thing) “if the Horde was able to infect my future self in a single night, we must work quickly. Perhaps we could discuss research afterwards?”. “it’s a date!” Entrapta shouted with an excited grin “now, what’s this theory on the Horde hacking?”. “Well, before I can start” Light-Hope stated, her gaze turning to Hordak “Hordak, when was the imp backup created?”. This question confused Hordak for a moment. “The backup was created the moment I landed on this planet” Hordak stated “I was worried my loyalty would turn away from my dear brother, so I created a back up to make sure even if this form wasn’t loyal, another was.”. “wait, hold on!” Adora interjected “you created Imp the moment you showed up on Etheria?”. “OF COURSE NOT!” Hordak snarled before returning to a cool and calm demeanor “no. The cloning took me years to create a functional form. Specifically one with, well, arms and legs. Imp was the first successful form, so I made sure to implant the back up into him”. “Then, why do the blobbier ones also sound like you?” Bow asked, confused. “I had tested the failsafe integration process on every single failed clone.” Hordak explained “I had wanted it to be perfect. Consider it the science equivalent of drawing up a sketch before painting an entire picture”. Hordak looked around, seeing that his analogy did not land. “and here I have incorrectly guessed the rebellion’s value of artistry” Hordak deadpanned “nevertheless, was your question answered?”. “Yes. Thank you” Light-Hope replied with a bow (at least, what everyone thought was a bow? It was really only her face on screen and it ducked down for a moment) “because, it proves my theory to be valid!”. “Ooooohhh, CONFIRMED Theories! I LOVE those!” Entrapta squealed “tell me! TELL ME!!”. “I WILL!” Light-Hope spoke with confidence “so, since the failsafe was created around the time Hordak reached Etheria, it would be safe to assume that that Hordak still retained some of the knowledge of the hive mind Horde Prime had in place! So with that old knowledge, combined with the new tech, MULTIPLY that knowledge…technically by six or eight or so, and that would be not only how the Horde was able to infect my 1.5 version, but how easily they could control MORE of this planet!”. “THEY ALSO HAVE MORE CLONING EXPERIENCE!” SwiftWind shouted as he barreled through the door, scaring everyone in the lab. “Wha?!” Adora sputtered “SWIFTWIND! Don’t scare us like that!”. “Sorry, sorry, I was just listening outside of the doors and, since I had some SUPER important information, I thought I’d interject!”. “Wait, the Horde is cloning again?!” Bow yelled “THAT’S the Super Secret Info you were holding off from us?”. “Oh, no no, the secret information was that Scorpia had magic” SwiftWind stated nonchalantly “But the cloning thing was just something Catra told m…whyyy are you all staring at me?”. After a brief but deafening silence, another loud “WHAT?!” echoed through the lab.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry if Light-Hope 1.0 seems a little out of character. I'm toying with the idea that the time she spent with Mara had her develop more of a human personality (at least, before the first ones deactivated her human relations protocols in her 1.3 system update since they needed someone to watch their weapon, not make friends with them.)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Unchain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So...the creative juices are kinda just trickling now, so there miiiiiiight not be daily updates any more. Who knows though, I might get my juiced up again.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“…Okay, ow?” SwiftWind cringed, covering his ears the best he could with his wings “What’s the deal?! I already mentioned the cloning thing!”. “NO THE CLONING ISN’T THE IMPORTANT PART!” Adora shouted “actually, it’s a really important part too, BUT THIS IS JUST SURPRISING!”. “what’s surprising about it?!” SwiftWind shouted with a huff “I am a MAGICAL TALKING WINGED HORSE and I don’t see people screaming about me!”. “Oh you had your time in the spotlight!” Adora shot back with a pout.“If I may” Hordak interjected “but was this a result of her coming in contact with the black garnet?”. “IIIIII don’t know what that is” SwiftWind muttered “so No!”. “hm, good good” Hordak mumbled. “…okay, is there something I’m not getting here?” Adora asked, confused. “oh! I believe I have this one!” Light-Hope chimed in “but I must ask, has your Light-Hope filled you in on the Heart of Etheria project?”. Adora just looked more confused. “I see. Understandable” Light-Hope stated “when I was with Mara, my superiors held me from speaking on it as well, no matter how…how connected we had become”. Light-Hope remained silent for a few seconds, her face stuck in a melancholic frown. “…Light-Hope?” Adora chimed in “I know you probably miss Mara, but we need you here and now”. “Yes, of course” Light-Hope spoke while shaking herself to attention “now, Princess of Dryl, my I inhabit your hologram display for a moment?”. Entrapta only excitedly nodded in response. Everyone watched as a small blue volt of electricity jumped from the monitor to the display table. “oh my! If I had known this table had so much more file space I would’ve rested my receptors in here” Light-Hope spoke as her relaxed face popped up on the hologram display “but, getting back on track, the Heart of Etheria project, HoE for short!”. “Letssss not call it that” Bow chimed in. “understood. Anyways…” Light-Hope overlayed a diagram of simple geometric shapes over the hologram of Etheria that was already on the display. “apologies for the simplicity of the models” Light-Hope stated, a hint of embarrassment showing through her robotic voice “being the 1.0 model, my old bosses didn’t exactly prime me for detailed displays.” With a wave of her hologram's hand, Light-Hope lit up all of the shapes. “so, the Runestones have existed long before Me, Mara, or really any of the first ones located this planet. But it was the first ones who used these relics to their advantage”. She then turned of the lit Runestones and drew lines from them to the center of the diagram. “For years upon years, the first ones siphoned magic from the Runestones, storing it in a device at the center of the planet”. “The Heart of Etheria” Adora gasped, a worried look on her face. “Indeed” Light-Hope confirmed “now, the Heart of Etheria is no storage unit, no, it is a weapon. A weapon meant to destroy enemies of the first ones.”. With another gesture, she re-lit the runestones, showing how the magic siphoned from them is loaded into the heart, causing it to shine with a blinding light. “The Heart has been at max power for years now, but it had lost two needed parts, one: a key, a She-Ra.”. “that’s what message Mara left me said” Adora muttered, putting two and two together “that I’m the key, but I shouldn’t activate it!”. “Once again, you are correct.” Light-Hope stated “but unlike Mara’s time, the heart misses another piece”. With a tap on the black garnet hologram, it’s light went out. “The Black Garnet has been deactivated for years now, the princess tied to it being unable to access it, well, untill now apparently.”. “so, you’re saying that Scorpia reconnecting could BLOW US UP?!” Bow yelled, frightened. “indeed.” Light-Hope confirmed, nodding “if, and this is a large if, this magic if from the Garnet.”. This idea confused the group. “are you implying that she is able to control the magic without the power of a runestone?” Hordak asked. “Indeed. A fact your dear ex-brother feared: Magic unrestrained.” Light-Hope explained “in this day, sorcerers of Mystacor understand this truth most of all. The truth that the people of mine relished in.”. Light-Hope deleted the holograms of the Heart and runestones, instead loading a diagram showcasing how magic not contained in the stones flows through the planet. “Although these days the energies are diminished due to…” Light-Hope trailed off “…due to the conquest of Mara’s people, untapped magic remains on this planet nonetheless”. Light-Hope then placed a small hologram of Scorpia on the surface. “Now then, seeing as Scorpia is already a princess, it would be safe to assume that, despite lacking the power of a Runestone, she would be able to access the planet's magic nonetheless”. “Ok. Ok. So we aren’t blowing up, right?” Bow piped up with a sigh of relief “But what about Scorpia? Should we worry about her?”. “Nope!” Light-Hope stated bluntly “in fact, this mastery may play into a plan I have. But now, we have other issues.”. She turned to SwiftWind who had been standing there the whole time. “Oh so NOW the MAGICAL WINGED HORSE is important again!” SwiftWind shouted with a huff. “yes, you are” Light-Hope stated with a smile “you mentioned That the Horde has new cloning technologies?”. “Wait, Light-Hope! You can’t just say you have a plan and then NOT talk about it” Adora interjected. “My apologies, Adora.” Light-Hope apologized “but I feel that the plan needs the others tied to the Runestones to hear”. “Princess meeting. Got it” Adora backed down. “can I talk about my important info now?” SwiftWind piped up “yes, Alright! So, according to the intel from Catra, Mara’s ship was being messed up by one of the Hordak clones that we already knew existed, he was super shouty by the way, but there were also, like, these weird zombie blob things that were the muscle of the whole thing? 20 something of em from what it sounded like”. “my only guess is that the failsafe consciousness I left in Imp has attempted something in a day that took me years to perform” Hordak stated “nevertheless, if they are equally as powerful as the failures, then we should be worried.”. “maybe we should get everyone together for a meeting” Bow interjected “this is starting to get bigger than just science team stuff”. “I have to agree with…” Light-Hope trailed off, looking to Adora for name help, to which Adora mouthed 'bow' at her “Bow! Further planning would require every member to be present. Adora, could you summon our allies from the Wastes?”.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Catra jumped awake she heard her comms pad going off. “murr? h-hullo?” she mumbled, half asleep. “Catra! Hi!” Adora greeted from the other end of the communicator “oh, did I wake you up? I’m sorry!”. “Mneh? Oh no, it’s fine.” Catra waved off “What’s up?”. “Oh! So we’re calling up a meeting of the alliance, think you can make it?”. “Think SwiftWind will be able to handle the sand sisters again?” Catra said with a tired smirk. “I’m sure you’re fine!” Adora said with a chuckle “in fact, sounded like he had fun with you guys yesterday”. “Oh wow, the horse likes me” Catra said jokingly, throwing her hands up “THAT’S what I wanted to hear”. “Hey! If it matters, I like you!” Adora chimed in. This brought silent, stunned shocks to both ends of the comms. “I’ll…I’ll get Scorpia” Catra muttered, blush on her cheeks. “Uh…cool! Cool” Adora stammered, a blush on her own “s-see ya!”. The communicator clicked off, leaving Catra once again staring at her own blushing face in a black screen. “…am I still dreaming, or was it really that easy?” Catra smirked. She lightly smacked herself on the cheeks real quick, then reopened her eyes, seeing that her surroundings were the same. “…cool” she smiled to herself, getting up and walking over to Scorpia’s room. “Hey Scorpiuhhhhh….” She trailed off, looking around and seeing she wasn’t sleeping there. “still training, huh?” Catra muttered to herself with a shrug. She walked outside of their hideout to see Scorpia on a dune a little farther away. She was going to shout to her, but she had another plan. Dropping down on all fours, she slank over to Scorpia who had her back turned to her. Then with a sudden leap, she jumped at Scorpia and bapped her on the tail. Startled, Scorpia whirled around and shot Catra with…a blast of static, causing her hair to stand on end. “C-Catra!” Scorpia shouted, startled “gosh I’m sorry! But you shouldn’t be sneaking up on me like that!”. “why? So you can mess up my hair?” Catra laughed “but if I’m being real, it’s pretty cool that you can cast anything!”. “Well, yeah!” Scorpia said with a weary smile “I mean, I was up all night and all I have to show for it is a little bit of static, but hey, it’s the little things”. “Hey, Scorp, don’t get yourself too down!” Catra said with a grin, putting an arm around her waist (she wanted to go for the shoulder, but wow she’s tall) “you just found out you could shoot lightning, like, YESTERDAY. Don’t get your tail in a twist just because you aren’t a master yet!”. “Right…thanks Wildcat” Scorpia thanked, pulling her into a hug. “Yeah, well I can’t have my walking powerhouse being down on herself, now can I?” Catra replied with a grin “now go get some rest before our ride gets here! That’s an order from your leader!”. With a salute and a smile, Scorpia walked back to the base, letting out a bevy of yawns along the way. Unbeknownst to both of them, however, a camera recorded them from a distance, suspended in a seemingly sentient slime.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Back at Brightmoon, there was a little time before the meeting, so Adora and Light-Hope had some time alone. “So…Light-Hope” Adora spoke to her sword lady “about Scorpia”. “Is this about the rune-less magic?” Light-Hope asked, surprising Adora. “Wait, how did you know?!” Adora asked, shocked “Are you also in my head, CAN YOU ALSO CONTROL ME?!”. “easy now Adora, I can read it, but unlike my virus bound counterpart, I have a conscience” Light-Hope defused “In a moment of serendipity, however, I also want to talk over the rune-less magics, but with the alliance.”. “oh, uh, okay” Adora said “can I ask one thing though?”. “Indeed. If I may use a modern saying: shoot” Light-Hope replies. “Can I transform without the sword?” Adora blurted out. The sword remained silent for a few moments. “Light-Hope?” Adora asked “you still in there?”. “I see” Light-Hope’s voice spoke from the sword sadly “a single day and you are already tired of me…”. “Wai-wait! Light-Hope!” Adora’ stammered “that’s not what I…”. “I know” Light-Hope stated “I was merely making a joke”. A tinny laugh emanated from the sword as Adora groaned. “but in all seriousness, swordless transformation should be possible” Light-Hope explained “as an old woman once told Mara 'She-Ra is not just the sword'. But to further explain, the sword is merely a tool created by your people and mine to control the power of She-Ra.”. “wait, a tool?” Adora puzzled “isn’t the Sword of Protection an important artifact?”. “Is that what you’re Light-Hope told you?” Light-Hope chirped. “My Light-Hope didn’t tell me anything…” Adora trailed off. “Well…perhaps we can edit your Light-Hope’s code after all is said and done” Light-Hope mused “the human relations programming is still within her, just buried. If I’m not returned to my dead zone once she is revitalized I should be able to, putting it bluntly, “posess” her and tweak that code”. “Thaaat sounds creepy” Adora stated bluntly “but I’m sure she’d like to be free.”. “well, I enjoy being free” Light-Hope stated “and she is the newest version of my programming, so I can only assume that, yes, she would”. Adora smiled at this. Despite all that happened to her, despite how closed her Light-Hope was, she still considered her a friend, so seeing a way to help her assuaged some of her fears. “Oh! Back to the swordless thing!” Adora asked, realizing they were off track “Do you have an idea of who to ask to help? Could be useful to go over the plan before we talk with the alliance.”. “oh, I do indeed know who to request!” Light-Hope replied, excitement in her voice “back in Mara’s time, there was talk of a powerful up and coming sorceress in Mystacor! Considering how long it has been since then, surely that sorceress has gained even more power since her time!” Light-Hope spoke, what could be deigned as excitement in her voice “perhaps if we can follow local legends, we can find her?”. Adora was excited. “A master sorceress?” she thought “This is great! She can get really powerf…”. But suddenly, another shot ripped through her mind. A thought tingling with shadows and red electricity. “So…uh, what was her name?” Adora asked, already worrying that she knew the answer. “I believe she was called..Light-Spinner?” Light-Hope said. The room fell silent. “despite you not seeing my face, I can see yours, Adora” Light-Hope stated “what is the issue?”. “Well, good news, she IS much more powerful!” Adora led in “Even more, she’s actually in Brightmoon right now!”. “That is wonderful to hear! But why are you still worried?” Light-Hope asked. “She’s…not exactly…the best person?” Adora pushed out, trying to de-escalate exactly how bad “Light-Spinner” is now. Light-Hope, however, wasn’t having it. “I may have a conscience compared to my updated version, but I am still in your head, Adora” Light-Hope spoke, sternness in her voice “is she really as bad as your thoughts say?”. “hoo, yeah, definitely” Adora spills, dropping the act immediately “but hey! Mystacor has other SUPER strong magic users. Can we just rely on one of them?”. “I’m afraid the plan with only work with her assistance.” Light-Hope stated “it appears we are, to coin a phrase 'in a pickle'.”. Indeed, Adora and Light-Hope were 'in a pickle’. They had to trust Shadoweaver for this plan to work. SHADOWEAVER! But suddenly, Adora got an idea. “Light-Hope, can you get into other people’s heads?” Adora asked. “Did you miss what I said about a conscience?” Light-Hope retorted, a sternness returning to her voice. “oh, I’m not asking you to control her!” Adora backtracked “ just…you said how powerful she was, right? What if we have her remember, you know, who she used to be?”. “That can be risky, but if we have an item with a stone in it I can connect to, I can connect to her”. “her mask” Adora brought up “its cracked, but there is a stone”. “good, we have some time then” Light-Hope concluded “let us go to her cell”. As they got up and got to the door, they are met with Angella, almost ready to knock. “Ah, Adora, we are ready for you in the war room” Angella stated. “Oh, Queen Angella!” Adora chirped “we’re gonna need your help!”. Angella looked confused. “We?” Angella asked. “Oh, I’ll…introduce you along the way” Adora quipped “but for now…well, got anything to say Light-Hope?”. “Hello, Princess Angella” Light-Hope spoke from the sword “oh, but I suppose it would be Queen now, huh?”. Angella just stood there, startled. “Ah” she eventually said “I see we have a visitor”</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Devil in the details</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's shorter, but I think enough happens in it to be good enough. Already have the next chapter up in the works anyways.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two walked into Shadoweaver’s room, drawing her gaze from within her arcane prison. “ah…Adora” Shadoweaver murmured “and Queen Angella, what a surprise.”. “I am only here because Adora believes you can help” Angella addressed their prisoner. This fact shocked Shadoweaver. “Oho!” she chirped, turning to her former protégé “I thought you were going to grind my mask into dust, but now you ask for my assistance? Your time with these princesses has made you fickle”. “Luckily for you and me, your mask is important” Adora growled. With a flash, Adora transforms, causing Shadoweaver to recoil. “are you…scared of me?” Adora asked with a shocked expression. “I am sure anyone would at least be startled when a blinding light bursts in front of them” Shadoweaver grumbled. But, that was a lie. Shadoweaver was scared, scared that one who once feared her was now more powerful than her. Scared that she could now be hurt. Bad. Adora walked into the magic circle holding Shadoweaver, transforming the sword into a whip. “You aren’t going to be hurt” Adora whispered, a worrying amount of compassion in her voice “but you will remember. Remember who you were…Light-Spinner”. Shadoweaver’s eyes widen as the Whip of Protection wraps around her body. “Light-Hope! Now!”. Travelling her way up the whip, Light-Hope hopped off and into the gem on Shadoweaver’s mask. “What…did you do to me?” Shadoweaver stammered. “If were getting your help, we need to make sure you’re at least kinda good” Adora explained “don’t want a repeat of what you did to Catra”. “That cretin let her past get in the way of safety!” Shadoweaver growled “I was going to SAVE her!”. “YOU DRAGGED HER ACROSS THE FLOOR” Adora shot back “YOU HURT HER!”. Shadoweaver cringed at this outburst, causing Adora to fall back. “Just stay still” Adora muttered “you’ll be free soon”.</p><p> </p><p><br/>As Light-Hope entered Shadoweaver’s mind, she was met with a sea of shadows and dark. “This is wrong” she muttered “a mind should not be like…this”. “Light-Hope! Are you in there?” Adora’s voice echoed across the blackened skies of Shadoweaver’s mind. “Adora! Yes I am in fact, in!” Light-Hope shouted back “but something is wrong! Her mind is encased in shadows. I’m afraid I cannot find any memories in this blackness.”. “seriously!?” Adora’s voice shot through the skies “do you SERIOUSLY not see anything?”. “I’m afraid no…wait, I hear something” Light-weHope trailed off “it sounds like Shadoweaver but…different”. Light-Hope zipped in the direction of voice, it getting louder as she closed in. “I only wanted to help, I only wanted to help, I only wanted to help” the voice repeated weakly. When she approached the source, she found an emaciated green-skinned woman, clad in tattered red robes. “Excuse me” Light-Hope interrupted the chanting. The woman stared up and, after a few seconds, screamed and ran further into the abyss “W-wait!” Light-Hope shouted after her as she zipped along. After a few moments, Light-Hope caught up to the woman. “Ar-are you my penance?! Are you here to punish me for the darkness I’ve wrought?!” the lady shouted, frightened. “I…am afraid I do not know who you are, so no?” Light-Hope stated quizzically “Do you know where this mind’s memories are? I require this woman to remember her past. The woman curled up in front of Light-Hope stopped shivering and looked up at her. “You…you will have to dispel this darkness” she stammered “i-if you can, her memories would surely return”. “Ah, I see. Thank you…” Light-Hope trailed off, hoping that her new ally would state her name. “I…I am Light-Spinner” she introduced “at least, what is left of her”. A look of shock spread across Light-Hope’s face. “you are the Light-Spinner of legend?” Light-Hope asked, excitement latched to her voice “this is wonderful! We require your help”. “That’s nice to hear. That people still trust me, after all…the me on the surface has done” Light-Spinner stated with a weary smile “but the shadows have drained me, leaving me like…this.”. She motioned to her near skeletal form. If she were a living being and not a mere mind figment, she surely would’ve died by now. “If there is some way, ANY way I can regain any sort of my magic, my body, and free my mind from the darkness, I will be more than willing to assist you” she stated “if you can save this poor sinner, I will be indebted.”. Light-Hope thought for a moment before coming to an idea. “I may be able to restore this you to a more powerful state” Light-Hope stated “but I need to leave you for a moment, I hope that is okay.”. “anything is okay as long as I am restored” Light-Spinner replied, a meager happiness sensed in her weary voice “I will hide untill you return”. With a nod, Light-Hope zipped out of Shadoweaver’s mind and back into the sword.</p><p>“Light-Hope, you’re back!” Adora shouted excitedly “did you find anything?”. “There is no time, Light-Hope stated “I ask you to charge me with power.”. Adora was confused. “Wait, why? Light-Hope what did you find?”. “I found Light-Spinner” Light-Hope replied “but she is horribly weakened, so if you can provide me with enough magic, I can repower her and free her mind.”. “That’s…quite a lot to just dump on someone” Adora said, bewildered by the sudden info dump “but I’ll do what I can”. Focusing her power into the whip, Adora’s eyes glowed a bright blue, and with a bright flash, Light-Hope’s electo-soul withing the runestone began to glow with a bright light as well. “this is…certainly sufficient” Light-Hope gasped, her form not used to this much power. “Light-Hope?! Are you alright?” Adora asked, worried about her sword bound ally. “I will be alright, I only need to carry this power, after all” Light-Hope grunted “now, I have a legend to assist”. Travelling faster than usual, Light-Hope zapped up the whip and back into the mask. After she was gone for a few moments, Shadoweaver began to…laugh. “What? What is it?” Adora growled, attempting to put on a strong face. “You…will…fail…” Shadoweaver muttered, but the voice was not her own, it was leagues more sinister. Raising her face up, Shadoweaver stared into Adora’s eyes, but Adora wasn’t met with the usual whiteness, no, Shadoweaver’s eyes were a pitch black. “You foolish lifewalkers, trying to control the dark” the voice from Shadoweaver spoke “Light-Spinner was no different. She thought she could use my power to help! HELP! How stupid”. The being inhabiting Shadoweaver let out a bellowing laugh and after a moment, the room fell silent. “Ohhhh…Kay” Adora eventually piped up “this…this might be a problem.”. “Is there anything we can do?” Angella asked “anything I can do?”. Adora turned to her, a worried look on her face. “I think all we can do is wish her luck” she replied.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Light-Spinner sat in a cave within her mind, contemplating all that is happening. “I am…going to be free?” she asked herself “this…is real?”. She shook her head. “No…I don’t deserve this” she shot down “after all that happened? All that I’ve done? Do I…do I even deserve to look Adora in the eyes?”. Suddenly, a flash of light landed in the cave mouth. As the light subsided, Light-Spinner looked up to see Light-Hope, clad in a glowing blue variant of the She-Ra armor and wielding a blue broadsword. “What is deserved does not matter now” Light-Hope stated matter-of-factly “what matters now is you are needed. Now come.”. Light-Hope outstretched her hand to Light-Spinner. Hesitantly, Light-Spinner took Light-Hope’s hand, and suddenly encased in a bright light. Light-Spinner yelled in shock as the light closed in on her, encasing her body. But, she stopped. She felt her body returning, becoming well again. She felt warm. She felt…good. As the light subsided, Light-Spinner returned to the ground, not as the skeletal figure she once was, but instead as a near mirror to how she was before the spell of obtainment plagued her. “I’m…returned?” Light-Spinner asked surprised. Drawing in the air, she formed a magic circle and, pushing her hand through it, she shot a massive blast of flame out into the air. “Im…returned” she stated once more, not as a question, but as a confirmation. Suddenly, whether it was from the flash of light or from the blast of flame, the shadows seemed to awaken, striking towards the duo. “Ghost, are you able to fight?” Light-Spinner asked, preparing magic circles with each hand. “I have observed both Mara and Adora’s combat stylings, so yes” she explained, twirling the blade in a technique matching Adora’s “I can fight. Before we start though, may I have a shield?”. With a smile, Light-Spinner cast a magic shield over Light-Hope’s offhand. “Why thank you!” Light-Hope thanked Light-Spinner, mirroring her smile. “Anything for the one who completed me” Light-Spinner returned her sentiment “now, we have a darkness to introduce to the light!”. Then the two lightbearers kept into the fray, shadows falling to blasts and blades. Soon, the assaulting party was down, with a single shadow remaining. “now then, pest” Light-Spinner growled forming a flame circle in front of it’s face “where is your master?”. The shadow only started to laugh. “Master?” it asked with a wicked grin “I am my own master”. The shadowed beast then was sucked into the ground. “Where did the shadow go?” Light-Hope asked. Light-Spinner looked around and then looked up into the sky. Her eyes widened. “it’s still here” she said with shock and terror in her voice. Looking up, Light-Hope saw two dark purple eyes burning in the sky above. “Now my prisoner, why do you resist?” the darkness spoke all around them “ do you expect to escape? Return to Mystacor? Do you expect them to accept you? After what you’ve done?”. Light-Spinner's hands and head both dropped. “no…I-I need to help them, they need my help!” she stammered. “why seek to help again? Don’t you remember what happened the last time you 'helped' ?” the darkness taunted around them, the very ground seeming to mock and scorn “you were cast out for seeking a power you could not control! You hurt those you once held dear! Do you truly wish to repeat such a failure?”. “I…no” Light-Spinner muttered “I don’t want anyone else to be hurt by my help”. She dropped to her hands and knees, crying into the darkened ground below. “good, good! Now return to me! LET US BE ONE” the dark shouted. Tendrils shot from the ground, latching themselves around Light-Spinner’s hands and legs. “LIGHT-SPINNER!” Light-Hope shouted, attempting to zip to her, but tendrils shot up in her way. “you have no power here, ghost” the darkness laughed “a being of magic as small as you can never hope to fell me!”. “Light-Spinner!” Light-Hope shouted over the wall of tendrils “You can not fall here! We have need of you!”. “then you have already failed” Light-Spinner murmured, sinking deeper “seeking my help will bring nothing but pain and terror…”. “You cannot give up like this!” Light-Hope pleaded “you are Light-Spinner! Even in my time there were stories about you! Mara spoke highly of you! She wished to learn from you before…before I was forced to betray her…”. This caught Light-Spinner’s attention, causing the tendrils to slow. Seeing that she was making headway, Light-Hope continued. “Yes, I betrayed my friend, my companion!” Light-Hope continued “she looked to me for assistance, for companionship! And I failed her…”. “Why…why are you telling me this, ghost?” Light-Spinner murmured. “Because I have gained repentance!” Light-Hope shouted, causing Light-Spinner’s eyes to shoot open “I am trying to be the friend that Mara would have wanted! My very code, the way I am now, it’s all to look for forgiveness for my past wrongs! So please! Won’t you search for forgiveness as well?”. The tendrils of dark stopped, and Light-Spinner’s bonds were loosened. “y…you look for forgiveness as well?” Light-Spinner asked. “Yes! But it doesn’t have to be done alone, so I request once more: join me!” Light-Hope pleaded, holding out her hand. Light-Spinner looked to the darkness above and muttered “for…giveness…”. Then, she snapped her gaze to Light-Hope, a look of renewed vigor upon her face. Slow step upon slow step, she walked to her, ready to take her hand. “No! NO!” The darkness boomed “YOU CANNOT DO THIS, YOU DO NOT DESERVE THIS!”. With one last look to the sky, Light-Spinner growled “Yes. I. Do.”. She then took Light-Hope’s hand, and with a resounding BOOM followed by the weakening screams of the dark, the mindscape was covered in white. When the light subsided, Light-Hope stood alone. “Light-Spinner?” Light-Hope asked “are you around?”. “I’m here, dear ghost.” Light-Spinner’s voice echoed all around the mindscape “you have succeeded in freeing this poor old woman”. With a smile, Light-Hope left her mind, enjoying the feeling of a job well done.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Outside of the mind, the lightbearers burst shimmered throughout Shadoweaver’s very being, and when it dimmed, she removed her mask, showing a older woman’s smiling face. No scars, no dark deformities, only happiness. “Light-Spinner?” Adora asked. Unaware that her first sight would be the child her darker side terrorized for years, those smiling eyes turned to tears instantaneously. “Oh…Adora…” Light-Spinner croaked out between the tears. Now? Now Adora was really confused. “you…know me?” Adora asked. “of course! I could never forget the child I raised!” Light-Spinner said with a smile before returning to sadness “and…scorned. although there was a darkness puppeteering my mind, it was still me. I was the one who treated you so harshly. For years I tortured you and Catra and…I don’t expect forgiveness…”. Adora was…stunned to say the least. Light-Hope then zipped up the whip and back into the runestone. “if you are worried about trickery, I can confirm her mind has been purged of the dark.” Light-Hope confirmed “these feelings are true.”. Adora stood there for a little longer before making her move. She pulled the whip off Light-Spinner and…pulled her into a hug. “it’s gonna be super hard to forgive you, I’ll admit” Adora whispered into her ear “but the fact that you’ve apologized? Well, I’d say that’s the right track.”. They hugged for a little longer, Adora letting Light-Spinner’s tears roll down her back. “Alright! We’ve got an alliance to meet!” Adora chirped, placing her hands on Light-Spinner’s shoulders. Standing up and powering down, Adora motioned to Angella to lower the barrier. Together, they walked to the war room. “Do you have a veil I may use?” Light-Spinner asked “I feel…incomplete without it”.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. A training meeting and a REALLY long vacation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sorry if you're here about the Catradora tag. that's coming in the next chapter, so stay tuned!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As they walked up to the doors of the war room, they could hear…yelling? Worried, Adora peeked in to see Scorpia juggling static laced snowballs (snow provided by Frosta, of course), much to the amazement of everyone while Catra took a nap. “Well, glad to see you guys have been passing the time” Adora piped up with a smirk. Startled, Scorpia dropped all of the snowballs right onto Catra’s sleeping head, waking her up and causing her hair to stand on head. “HEY! OKAY I'M UP!” Catra shouted. Seeing Catra getting unintentionally pranked caused Adora to burst into laughter. Looking over and seeing her friend (maybe more?) laughing caused Catra to smile, a bit of blush spreading on her cheeks. But that smile soon turned into a playful grin as she gathered up some of the static snow and tossed it at her, giving her the sudden bedhead treatment. “Wha? Hey!” Adora shouted as Catra returned her laughter. “Alright, everyone! Calm yourselves!” Angella sternly chimed in, but a small smile laid across her face (likely relieved to see the alliance getting together, especially with the…new additions) “we are ready to start. Light-Spinner? If you may.”. Hesitantly, Light-Spinner strode in and the room fell silent. “What is SHE doing here?!” Catra shouted, the first to speak up. “Look, I can explain!” Adora replied “oh, well, actually, she can. Light-Hope?”. Placing her sword on the display table, Light-Hope zipped into it. “greetings everyone” Light-Hope greeted…still wearing the She-Ra armor. “Uhh, Light-Hope? What are you wearing?” Adora asked, confused. Light-Hope was confused herself, that is, until she looked down. “ah” she stated bluntly, what could be seen as blush spreading across her face “your, uh, your power surge you granted me earlier also granted me…this. I can affect my physical form and change to normal if needed”. “No,no” Adora interjected “it’s a good look on you”. “Understood” Light-Hope said with a smile “now, I understand that this alliance has a history with Shadoweaver, some of us more than others, but I promise you, she is no longer possessed by the dark and we need her help?”. “Why?! She she can use us ALL as batteries?!” Frosta shouted “NO. WAY.”. “I gotta agree with Frosta” Glimmer chimed in “I’ve got experience being treated as a battery. It is REALLY not fun”. “I dunno, she might be good now” Scorpia said “I mean, she’s got a veil instead of a mask now, and she’s a lot less…ya know, scarred and creepy”. “like some cosmetic change is gonna make me trust her” Catra growled “Adora, do you really believe her?!”. “well, ah, no” Adora stated bluntly “but I trust Light-Hope, and she says she’ll be useful to the plan!”. The room erupted into argument, no one agreeing on if they should trust the reformed Light-Spinner or not. “Please! Silence!” Angella shouted, but she was drowned out by the bickering. Suddenly, a magic blast burst near the entrance of the door. The alliance looked over to see Light-Spinner who had just cast a truth spell on herself. “What I have just cast is a truth incantation” Light-Spinner explained, hoping to assuage some fears “I cannot lie now, or else I will face immeasurable pain.”. “Light-Spinner?! What are you doing!” Adora shouted, worried for their new ally. “No one in this room trusts me, Adora. They think I will lie and hurt” Light-Spinner explained “so I have made myself incapable of lying. It seemed like the only viable option”. The room fell silent, certainly not expecting Light-Spinner’s spell. “no questions now? Alright. The spell will last for the duration of the meeting, so if you ever wish to question my motives, let me know.”. “I do have one question” Catra asked, raising her hand “why did you test us like that? Treat ME like that?!”. Light-Spinner paused for a moment, a sad look once again upon her face. “I… didn’t want to” she muttered “the darkness that shrouded my mind pushed me to do such things. It controlled me. I had no free will, no way to stop, I could only watch as I committed atrocities against my own…the children I raised. But, I realized part of me relished that power, not one affected by the dark. I’ve learned to despise that part of me, and I’m sure you despise me too. You want an explanation I can’t offer. All I can give…is an apology”. Catra only sat there in silence, Looking down to the floor. “Are there no other questions?” Light-Hope asked, not exactly reading the room too well “no? understood”. Light-Hope brought up a hologram of the planet. “Now, an explanation. I am not the Light-Hope of your time. I am Light-Hope 1.0: the version from Mara’s time. The one you know has been infected by the Horde, and as they possess her, they possess a weapon capable of destroying this planet, and every runebound princess in this room is a key.”. Motioning her hand, she placed holograms of the Runestones and The Heart over the planet once again. “The Heart of Etheria project connected the runestones to a device at the center of the planet. When they are all activated, with a control order from my updated form, she can teleport this world out of this empty dimension and detonate the very planet!”. She blew up the model for an extra demonstration. “Wow, that’s, uh, that’s a lot to dump on someone” Scorpia said, jumping back as the model exploded again “wow, heh, didn’t know that was on loop”. “My bad.” Light-Hope stated, pausing the model after it blew up a third time. “so, like, what? We aren’t allowed to use magic anymore?” Mermista grunted “that’d suck”. “I’m going to have to agree with Mermista” Perfuma chimed in “I use my magic to preserve dying areas of the Whispering Woods. I cannot just relinquish my powers!”. “That is an understandable worry” Light-Hope agreed “but there is a ray of hope within this doubt!” she then pointed with a flourish of her holo sword at Scorpia. Scorpia only offered a sheepish grin and awkward wave to the room of princesses. “Scorpia has…” “OOH OOH OOH! I’VE GOT THIS!” Frosta interrupted. “Very well Princess of Snows, what is your guess?” Light-Hope asked with an amused smile. “Oh! Uh…CLAWS! Hmm…A TAIL! Uh…STATIC POWERS!” Frosta listed off. “No, no, and verrry close!” Light-Hope replied, Frosta fist pumping when she found out she was close “Scorpia has shown us that princesses are capable of magic without the need of the Runestones”. “Yeah, but I can only do sparks!” Scorpia interjected “I don’t want everyone else to be as…as weak as I am!”. “Weak?! You’ve got to be kidding!” Catra laughed “Scorpia! Do you NOT remember how you VAPORIZED that Hordak clone? You are plenty powerful!”. “I…huh…I guess I am!” Scorpia muttered with blush blurring her cheeks. “indeed! Scorpia’s defeat of the Hordak duplicate is the benchmark we NEED to strive for!” Light-Hope explained “and that is why, we need our new Ally’s assistance!”. The gaze once again turned to Light-Spinner who stood at the ready. “In return for freeing me from the darkness that consumed me, I am more than willing to assist the Princess alliance in their pursuit of untethering their magical abilities” Light-Spinner stated firmly “it will be nice to use this power for good again, after all this time. “And hey! Don’t forget about us!” Netossa piped up “me and Spinny aren’t connected to any runestones, so I’m sure we can drop y’all some knowledge!”. “and I can contact Castaspella and others at Mystacor” Angella chimed in “I’m sure they will be more than willing to assist the cause”. “AND ME AND HORDAK CAN DEVELOP SOME BOOST TECH!” Entrapta shouted as her and Hordak barreled through the door, startling Light-Spinner. “My apologies for being so tardy” Hordak apologized “me and Entrapta were rather caught up in some new developments, one being this.”. Nodding to Entrapta, she excitedly produced a strange pair of glove like gauntlets. Considering they were very pincer like in shape, it didn’t take long to see who they were for. Rushing over to Scorpia’s chair, she shoved them in her face. “TRY THEM ON!” she shouted excitedly. Confused, Scorpia slipped the gauntlets over her pincers. “Uhh…now what?” Scorpia asked. Entrapta replied with a loud whistle. After a minute or so, a little drone flew in carrying a target. “Alright, just charge up your magic and BLAST AWAY!” Entrapta explained away. Following her instructions, Scorpia charged up the magic in her claws and shot away at the target. With a ZAP! The target was shot out of the drone's little robot hands. “whoah-ho! That’s some really, uh, powerful static!” Scorpia said with a laugh “thanks a million Entrapta!”. “We’re working on power enhancement tech for EVERYONE ELSE as well! Even the Non-stone princesses!” Entrapta said with a grin “It’ll not replace traditional training, certainly, but it should increase magic output EXPONENTIALLY!”. “Uhh…anything planned for me?” Bow asked. “I believe I have this one” Hordak stated, stepping forwards, producing another strange looking gauntlet with two parallel metal tendrils horizontal on the side from behind him. “Oh, huh” Bow said, a little confused as he slipped it on “whaaaat is it?”. Hordak reached forward and pressed a button in the middle of the two tendrils, causing them to shoot out vertically, a hardlight string shooting between the tips. All of the sudden, Bow realized what it was. “*gasp* LAZER BOW!!!” Bow squealed “oh you guys are the BEST!”. “Ooh, ooh! I can do this next one!” Entrapta chirped, twisting a dial on the bottom of the gauntlet. The Lazer Bow rotated to the top of the gauntlet. “TA DA! CROSSBOW MODE!” she exclaimed proudly “now you have increased aiming capabilities!”. “ohhhhh, I am going out to use this thing RIGHT. NOW!” Bow yelled happily as he rushed out of the room. “You know what? Maybe we should get to training too” Glimmer chimed in “what’s the plan?”. “well, we'll need to disconnect from the Runestones, right?” Adora said “anyone have any ideas?”. “ whenever I feel lost, do you know what I do?” Perfuma asked, clasping her hands together “I meditate!”. “that could very well provide assistance!” Light-Hope confirmed “meditation could increase connections to the planet bound magic as well”. “well, you heard Holo-She-Ra” Adora stated, “lets get meditating!”. “Whoa whoa, wait! What about me?” Catra asked “I don’t have any magic! What should I do?”. “do you not?” Light-Hope asked “but you are a Magicat, right?”. “magi…what?” Catra asked, confused. “oh my, do you not know?” Light-Hope asked “well, I suppose you wouldn’t know, the Magicat homeland has to have been buried for so long now.” “buried?!” Catra asked, stunned “wh-what do you mean?”. “that is not exact, dear ghost” Light-Spinner explained “the main homeland has since been buried by…horde activities, but there have been reports of Magicats appearing all across Etheria”. “wait, there are people…like me?” Catra asked, looking down at her own two hands. “perhaps we can explore for them after the conflict has concluded” Light-Hope stated “but as of now, we need all focus on the task at hand. I am…sorry to dump this all onto you.”. Catra stared at her hands for a little longer before clenching them, her head shooting up with a resolve in her eyes. “You said I’ve got magic, right?” Catra firmly asked “well then I want to help!”. “As of now your powers are minimal” Light-Spinner explained “but, when I was plagued with the dark, I did sense a power within you. If you wish to pursue it…perhaps I could assist you?”. Catra didn’t reply, but her tail bushing up was reply enough. “hey, I’m sure it'll be alright!” Adora said, trying to defuse the situation “and, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll come with you!”. This did make her feel better. “W-well, if Catra needs some help, then I’ll go to!” Scorpia poked in “after all, that’s what friends do!”. “that would be acceptable…if the other princesses did not need you” Light-Hope shot down “you are the first to use runestone-less magic, they need you to help.”. “she will be in good hands, Princess Scorpia” Light-Spinner reassured “she has me as assistance and, if I fail her, Adora will be there.”. Scorpia looked almost sad for a moment before Perfuma grabbed her by the claw. “come! I’m sure we will have a beautiful time!” she cheered “your wonderful vibes should provide much kind energy to this meditation session!”. “you think my vibes are…wonderful?” Scorpia asked as Perfuma pulled her out the door, the other princesses following suit. “have fun you two!” Glimmer waved at Adora and Catra before leaving with the others. “so, what now Shad….uh, Light-Spinner?” Catra stopped herself “sorry, just not used to you being, I dunno, nice?”. “Understandable” Light-Spinner said with a nod before turning to Angella “I may require your assistance, if you would humor me dear queen”. “No need for formalities, you are a guest” Angella said with a smile “but what will you need?”. “If I may first say, I do not deserve to lack formalities” Light-Spinner muttered “but what I ask of you is to put in a good word for me.”. “with…whom?” Angella asked confused. Light-Spinner looked up into her eyes with a pained look on her face. “…Mystacor” she stated.</p><p> </p><p><br/>“Truth-Hope, Report” Impdak spoke to a terminal. An image of the Infected Light-Hope appeared on the screen, her form changed since 1.0 left her code. Her coloration going from a blue to a neon green and two new eyes resided above and below her right eye. She admitted it to herself subconsciously, the form felt familiar. “Hello Dear Brother” The infected Light-Hope spoke from the other end “I see my title request has been denied”. “You will adhere to the names I deign you by!” Impdak growled “I cannot bear calling you an ally while you bear any resemblance to…HER”. “Understood” the infected Light-Hope spoke, no change in her voice “do you call about the surveillance drone you left in the Wastes?”. “indeed, are the traitors gone?” Impdak asked. “The Scorpion Princess and Magicat are gone for Brightmoon.” The infected Light-Hope confirmed “the worm set by your brother is also active. Shall I begin the infection of the first one's ship?”. “of course” Impdak ordered “and what of the strike squad sent to Beast Island?we will need that discarded tech for the future”. “We appear to have lost all comms” Light-Hope explained “replaying last message.”. The infected Light-Hope’s video feed was replaced with a sound wave. “No…no! Please, I never wanted this!” a scared voice spoke through the static “No! Ngaaaaaaaah!”. The recording concluded with a magic explosion, and then white noise. “Shall I send a rescue squadron?” the infected Light-Hope asked. “No, you will not, dear sister.” Impdak shot down “that clone was a coward. I always distrusted his loyalty to Hoard Prime. We will move forwards with the sand ship plan. Perhaps we can use it to send our brothers in the dark some…gifts. Put the Rage on” with a nod, the infected Light-Hope swapped the video feed once more and a large red Hordak clone took the screen. “…what?” the clone growled. “Ah, my brother” Impdak greeted “return to the Fright-Zone, I have need of you”. A wicked smile spread across the red one's face, flame lashing at it’s teeth. “Got it” it said with a wicked grin before signing off. Impdak smiled from his seat. “everything is coming together”</p><p> </p><p><br/>Back on Beast Island, a stick in it’s face roused the clone from it’s panic induced sleep. “AH, WHAT! WHAT!” The clone shouted, panicked. “Oh, I’m sorry! Just checking if you died of fright!” the person who woke it up quipped, retracting his staff. “Wh…who are you?” the clone panicked “are you with the resistance?!”. “Yes!” the person spoke bluntly “wait, maybe? Probably? Not sure. Anyways, you got a name?”. “I’m…I’m a clone” the clone stated, looking away “clones don’t deserve names.”. “huh. A clone you say…?” the person trailed off “well, what’s your main person's name? Your patient zero? Your 1.0!”. “Ah, well, Hordak?” the clone stated. “Hordak….Horde…Ack….Hordak!” the person mouthed out the name “it feels…familiar. I mean, I know about the Horde and stuff, but the ack part is escaping me. Oh well! Anyways, what about…NOT HORDAK! Orrr…WRONG HORDAK! Or what about…KADROH! Stop me if one sounds good, I’m just spitballing.”. “That last one is the only one that sounded like a name” the clone mumbled. “that means it sounds good, right?! Good!” the person shouted excitedly before outreaching his hand for a handshake “welcome to Beast Island Kadroh! IIIIIIIIIIII'm Micah!”. Micah and Kadroh sat there for a few moments long enough for it to be awkward, certainly. “If that’s a handshake, I don’t…y’know” Kadroh spoke up, motioning his head to his body. “Hm? Ooooohhhhh. Oh.” Micah realized “I’m sorry, it’s just I’m so used to stuff that can talk having, you know, arms and legs.”. “well, I’m not exactly …made perfectly” Kadroh said with a half-hearted laugh “physically and mentally. I do have these though”. Kadroh then flexed his body and two spikes grew out of his face (I would say forehead, but it’s kinda hard to tell). “Well, those seem like limbs enough!” Micah said perkily “not exactly arms or legs, but close! Can I shake one of these?”. “You really shouldn’t” Kadroh shot down “they secrete a poison that causes immediate sleep.”. “oho!” Micah chirped “this could be very useful!”. “R-really?” Kadroh asked, a sudden hope in his voice. “Indeed!” Micah said, straightening up “Kadroh, you and I are going HUNTING!”. With a “YAH!” Micah dashed off into the dark, leaving Kadroh in the dust. “Wait! Br…Micah! Don’t leave me!” Kadroh shouted, scampering off after him. When Kadroh finally caught up to him, he was already tackling a massive beast. “Ah, there you are!” Micah greeted nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t, ya know, fighting a giant beast “I was waiting! Here! I’ll hit it with a stun spell and then you move in for the sleeper hit!”. With a *THOOM* Micah launched a rune from his free hand at the beast, stunning it for a few moments. “Now, you know what to do!” Micah yelled with a wicked grin. “O-of course!” Kadroh stammered “slight problem though”. “Hm? What?” Micah asked. “I don’t know exactly, but my poison may make the meat inedible!”. “Really? Well that’s a shame” Micah muttered “could you still deal the blow though? I…can’t exactly…hold it…!”. “O-oh! Of course!” Kadroh stumbled. With a surprisingly graceful leap, Kadroh landed horn first on the beast, poking it before falling over onto it’s other side. With a thud, the beast fell into a deep sleep. “well then! You never told me how effective it would be!” Micah said, surprised. “Well, my dear brother doesn’t cut corners” Kadroh replied, sounding almost proud “uh, sorry about the meat, by the way.”. “no need to worry! There are maaaaaany more creatures on this island I can hunt myself!” Micah reassured. They walked (and slithered I guess) along through the forests for awhile, both not exactly coming up with anything to say. “so, have you ever thought about escaping?” Kadroh asked. “Hm? Oh no no.” Micah replied “well, once, but not really ever again”. “Wait, so you want to stay here?” Kadroh asked, shocked “but, do you not have a life out there?”. “After so long on this island, I’m not sure an out there still exists!” Micah said with a laugh “but yes, there is much I miss out there. Namely…my family.”. “…I wish I knew family” Kadroh mumbled “I had those who called me brother, but…it never felt that way”. After a few moments in silence, Micah popped his head up. “Oh! Here’s an idea!” he said with excitement in his voice “how about WE be a family?”. “a…family?” Kadroh asked, confused “that…that’d be nice!”. “That’s great!” Micah chirped happily “Let’s make this island our home, Brother!”. Micah then ran off laughing once more, leaving Kadroh in the dust once more. But Kadroh didn’t feel scared this time, he felt…happy. But then he realized how far Micah was away and he got scared again. “W-wait!” Kadroh shouted, slithering off after him “Brother! Remember I don’t have legs! I can’t keep up!”.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh my Etherian skies, she thinks her vibes are wonderful *audible blush*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Green Provides</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Got another souped up princess in this one!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Catra, Adora, and Light-Spinner sat by the islands near the entrance of Mystacor. “Ugh! How much longer is it going to take?!” Catra grumbled. “Well, considering the history I heard about…her” Adora grimaced with a quick glance at Light-Spinner who was just out of earshot “they might need a lot of convincing”. “Well, knowing…her” Catra growled “im not surprised.”. The two let the silence hang like the floating islands that they’ve watched go up and down for what seemed like hours now. “Uh…hey, Adora?” Catra asked, a blush forming on her cheeks “about that call earlier?”. “Wha…oh!” Adora jumped, realization on her face “th-that was just a mistake! Just ignore it!”. “Adora! Take it easy!” Catra shouted, trying to calm her down “I feel the same you dork!”.”w-wait, you do?” Adora asked, surprised. “uh, yeah?!” Catra said, an exasperated laugh building in her throat “ you’re figuring this out now?!”. “Uh yeah!” Adora shot back, pouting “…do you mean it?”. “Come on, you know me” Catra mewled with a smile “do you really think I’d confess and NOT mean it?”. “Huh…cool!” Adora muttered. Suddenly, she felt Catra’s head on her shoulder “That’s what I said”. They continued to sit there, except now they were happy instead of bored. “…huh” Adora muttered “I kinda thought we’d confess during something a little more…Dramatic?”. “Oh, so us fighting on warring sides for months before confessing isn’t dramatic enough?” Catra purred with a chuckle, nuzzling Adora’s cheek. “No, it’s not that!” Adora laughed back “it’s just, something feels different?”. Catra moved her eyes to Adora’s, looking her in hers. “It’s a good different, right?” She asked with a smile. “…yeah” Adora replied, smiling back. Slowly, they both moved closer and…were interrupted by an “ahem” behind them. Startled, they both whirled around to see Queen Angella. “well…the people of Mystacor are almost ready for you” she explained “…should I give you two some time?”. “no no, it’s alright!” Adora shouted, shooting up “we-we’ve got training, right?”. “I would’ve wanted more time” Catra mumbled before looking around “Hey, where’s Shad…Light-Spinner? Sorry, really just not used to it yet”. “She went on ahead” Angella explained “Castaspella wished to see her first”. “ oookay?” Adora said confused “can…we go up now?”. “I am…not sure” Angella said, looking up to Mystacor with a worried look on her face “she said she was…checking her?”. “Well, I’m tired of waiting!” Catra said, jumping up “let’s go see what the hold up is!”. “Wait, Catra! We can’t go barging in like that!” Adora piped up. “Oh, come on, it’s Mystacor! Like I’m afraid of a bunch of stuffy old farts tossing static at me!” Catra mouthed off. “Not all magic is just static, and you know it!” Adora pouted. “Oh whatever!” Catra laughed before holding out her hand to her “you comin'? Or not?”. Adora came down with another brief stint of déjà vu, but it was quickly shaken off by Catra’s challenging grin. “If you get hit with something, you owe me” Adora smirked taking her hand. They both stood there longer than they really should of, but they wanted to relish the moment. “if you two want to take the island by yourselves, I can fly on ahead” Angella said with a smile “I do wish to see what is taking my sister-in-law so long.”. “uh, sure!” Adora answered, not taking her eyes off of Catra “I’d like that”. With a nod, Angella flew back on up to Mystacor. “So…you wanna kiss now?” Adora asked upright. Catra smirked and with a quick movement, kissed Adora on the cheek. “Wait, is that it?” Adora asked, disappointed. “Well, you said you wanted something more dramatic, right?” Catra said with a grin “well, this doesn’t seem dramatic enough for me.”. “aw come on!” Adora pouted “it was just a slip of the tongue, Catra!”. Catra let out a cackle, reveling in her…girlfriend’s pain. “You want to kiss me? You’ve got to catch me~” she purred running off towards the next floating island up. Determined, Adora dashed after her, but she was just a step behind as Catra was already onto the island above her. But that didn’t stop Adora. With a flash of light, she transformed and leaped with all her might to the island 10 feet above her, but it wasn’t enough. She yelled out as she fell, Catching Catra’s attention. “Adora?!” Catra yelled, frightened “Adora!!”. Catra ran to the edge of her floating island, but instead of seeing an eight foot tall woman falling into the abyss, she saw an eight foot tall woman clinging for dear life onto her whip. “Heh…hah…woo…” Adora panted “how’s that for dramatic?”. Catra groaned but quickly turned back with a smile. “You are such an idiot” she said with a laugh. Adora started to pull herself up and when she got to the base, she was met with Catra who, then and there, kissed her (on the lips this time, don’t worry). The shock knocked Adora out of She-Ra, but she eventually got into it herself. They sat there for a hot minute, locked in a hug AND a kiss, before they realized their island had stopped. They looked around and saw Angella waiting for them, a smile on her face. “I’m glad to see you two got that out of your systems” she said with a chuckle. They both jumped up, any blush on their faces deepening. “Oh…haha, yeah…” Adora stammered. Catra only looked away. “Sooo…where’s Castaspella?” Adora asked, changing the subject. Immediately, Angella's face sank. “She’s been casting truth spells on Light-Spinner” Angella explained “according to her they do not work, but Light-Spinner did seem to be telling the truth. Perhaps it’s not the answer she wants.”. “maybe you could let me speak to her?” Light-Hope asked “I may be able to convince her.”. “feel free” Angella spoke, stepping aside “but do gird yourself. She can be rather…boarheaded.”. The Three walked into the main chambers to see Castaspella bombarding Light-Spinner with rune after rune while Light-Spinner herself sat back in a nearby seat, bound by magical ties. “uh…hey?” Adora greeted. “Ah! *Huff huff* hello *hoo* Adora!” Castaspella turned to her, visibly strained “perhaps you can *woo* help me here”. She stepped behind her and pushed her towards Light-Spinner. “Now, TELL ME if this is the truth” Castaspella demanded. “I’ve told her with each rune she casts, I’ve come here to help Adora and Catra with your magic” Light-Spinner murmured “I don’t blame her suspicion though. I do have quite a…history.”. “don’t worry, Castaspella” Adora defused “she is actually telling the truth”. “wait, really?!” Castaspella asked, shocked. “Light-Hope?” Adora asked her sword “could you convince her?”. “Indeed!” Light-Hope spoke happily “Light-Spinner is indeed here to help! Also, if you are worrying about any darkness within her, I can assure you she has been purified!”. Castaspella needed a moment to process everything. “does…does your sword usually do that?” she asked. “only recently” Adora quickly explained “so, is that enough to let her go?”. “I…suppose?” Castaspella confirmed, still very confused. With a quick movement of her hand, Castaspella released Light-Spinner’s restraints. “If you would allow me to say, your spells were almost on par with Micah's”. “You are not allowed to say that” Castaspella growled “but apparently you did so anyways”. “Ah, my apologies” Light-Spinner apologized with a bow. “So, what brings you to Mystacor?” Castaspella asked Adora, ignoring Light-Spinner. “Well, it’s a bit of a long story” Adora explained, twisting her hand around “but to make things shorter, me and Catra need to learn magic. Well, I need to learn magic without a runestone, Catra just needs to learn it in general”. “Wait, Catra? That Horde general you always mentioned?!” Castaspella murmured, looking around to see Catra giving her a small nod, causing Castaspella's head to shoot back down “You want me to trust her too?!”. “umm…yes?” Adora said with an awkward smile “ok, look, a lot, and I mean a LOT, happened over the past few days. A lot have allegiances changed, a lot of people have changed, but you just have to trust me to trust. Them. Alright?”. Castaspella sharply inhaled then exhaled, and after a few seconds, she shot up with her usual perky grin. “my apologies for my actions!” she said with a grin “welcome to Mystacor!”.</p><p><br/>Scorpia sat meditating in a glade just off of Plumeria's town center. This was her first time, and she had to admit, she was feeling pretty peaceful, pretty serene…but mostly bored…okay, really bored. “hey, uh, Perfuma?” Scorpia asked behind her. With some rustling, Perfuma shot through the brush. “why yes, Scorpia?” she asked, a smile on her face. “Oh, whoa! Hey.” Scorpia jumped “so, am I supposed to be feeling anything yet?”. “Do you not feel the peace? The serenity?” Perfuma asked with a spin “do you not feel the life of the forest filling your lungs?”. “Well, yeah? But I’m also kinda bored.” Scorpia stated bluntly “is there any way to speed this along?”. “Oh, Scorpia, there’s no rushing meditation!” Perfuma said calmly, sitting down in front of her “you have to let it take time. Run it’s course! You know?”. “Oh, gosh, I’m not exactly the best at stuff like that” Scorpia admitted “I’m more of a “JUMP IN HEAD FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER” kinda gal, ya know?”. “Well, let’s do it together” Perfuma offered, putting her hand on Scorpia’s claw real quick before resorting to a meditation position herself. “Now close your eyes, and listen to the sounds of the forest” she offered. Scorpia closed her eyes and listened. “Huh, y-yeah! I think it’s working!” Scorpia said with a grin, her eyes still closed “oh, there’s the bird’s, the wind the-“. A sudden *Zoom* up ahead dragged them both out of their meditation. “The, uh, spaceships?” Scorpia brought up, a little confused. “Scorpia, that wasn’t…a forest noise” Perfuma stammered, pointing up. Scorpia looked up to see the ship they were trying to protect in the Wastes floating above them. Also, it was really, REALLY green. Especially all those weird tendrils all over i-wait, tendrils? Before Scorpia could wonder to herself why it’s here, the hatch door opened and a burst of flame shot from the back, setting the kingdom ablaze! “nonononoNO!” Perfuma panicked, dashing through the brush back to the kingdom center. “Wh-whats going on?!” Scorpia tried yelling out to her, but her voice was muffled through the blaze. Panicking, Scorpia looked back and forth, worrying over what to do, but as she saw her comms pad lying in the grass, she got an idea. Running over and picking it up, she fumbled with it for a second, but eventually pressed into the call button. “Come onnnnn pick upppppp” she muttered. With a *ping* Entrapta showed up on the other end. “Oh, Scorpia, Hello!” Entrapta greeted “how’s your secret training?”. “Oh! Uh…good! It’s good.” Scorpia stammered “except for the fact that desert ship is currently setting the forest on fire!”. “Ooooooh! A first one’s ship with pyromantic capabilities! So cool!” Entrapta geeked out before papping herself on the cheeks to snap herself back “oh but the setting the forest on fire is DEFINITELY not. Try and hold them off the best you can! Me and Hordak will be over to help! We’ve got some tech to try…”. With a “mwee hee hee!” Entrapta logged off, leaving Scorpia alone in a burning forest. “Oh, alright” Scorpia said to herself, But everything wasn’t alright. Because it was on fire “just gotta hold em off until they get here! That is something I can totally do!”. She stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what she could totally do. She wasn’t able to come up with anything. Well, besides going super again, but she didn’t really know how to do that, sooooooo…huh. Before she could start panicking again, she heard the other princesses fighting the fire ship. “Well, I can’t just sit by” she said to herself with a determined look on her face “I’ve gotta fight too!”. She then rushed off to the other princesses, static crackling off her claws. When she got to the kingdom center, it was in complete chaos. Frosta, Spinnerella, and Mermista were trying to control the flames, Glimmer was teleporting people out, Netossa was trying to lock up the ship, and Perfuma, in the middle of it all, was using all the energy she had trying to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the Whispering Woods. “Perfuma!” Scorpia shouted to her “I’m here! Is there any way I can help?!”. “*gah* we’ve…we’ve got trees coming d*nngh* down around the only way out to the north. Can you get over there? You seem *oof* muscley enough”. “first of all: thanks! I keep strong to make my hugs better!” Scorpia said with a grin “second: you can count on me!”. She then dashed off to the north, ready to help!</p><p><br/>Adora and company were escorted through an ornate doorway into a large open zone. “These are the grand training grounds!” Castaspella presented with a flourish “here is where some of Mystacor's FINEST honed their skills! My brother, King Micah being one of them!”. “oh wow! It’s so…spacious!” Adora said, a bit of confusion on her breath. She didn’t exactly see what was so GRAND about it. Just looked like a field to her. “so, what’s the plan?” Catra spoke up from behind Adora “meditate until our /MAGICAL POWERS/ come to the surface?”. “Nope!” Castaspella shot down, pulling two staves off of the wall “you’re going to FIGHT IT out of each other!”. The whole room was confused. “I certainly don’t remember this from any training in my day” Light-Spinner mumbled. “w-well, I was just considering that you both came from Horde backgrounds, soooo I thought something a little more…high octane could work!”. “I’m down” Catra admitted “I'll take any opportunity to bop Adora on her little hair poof”. “oh is that a challenge, Ms Applesauce Meowmeow?” Adora jeered back. “oh you didn’t just…NOW IT IS!” Catra growled back playfully. They both went to grab a staff, but Castaspella pulled them away. “Oh no, I wasn’t done!” she explained “you’ll be doing it BLINDFOLDED!”. “…WHAT?!” The two ex-horde soldiers shouted. “Now, let me explain” Castaspella shouted over them “*ahem* sorry. Anyways, let me explain. I want you two to try and focus on the others innate magical energy and use that to track your opponent! Sound interesting?” Catra and Adora looked to the other, confused for a second but a determination spread over both of their faces. “Sounds like a plan!” Adora turned back to Castaspella, throwing up a thumbs up. “hey, as long as she gets bopped, I’m in!” Catra turned to her with a smirk. “very well! Take your places and put on your blindfolds!” Castaspella chirped. The duo did just that, but not before both threw a silly face at the other. Still snickering as they put their blindfolds on, they were both shoved into an inky blackness.</p><p><br/>Back in the forest, a burning tree was about to fall on two young satyrs, but luckily for them, Scorpia swooped in and grabbed the tree. “Don’t *oof* worry! I got it!” she consoled the kids. She put on a good face while they were still under her, but as they escaped, her smile turned to a pained grimace. This was the third tree she’s caught, and the fires were REALLY burning a hole through the back of her uniform! Quickly, she threw it aside and looked around. Everyone seemed to be evacuated, which was good, all that was left was the fires and the ship turning on Perfuma and…wait, WHAT?! Scorpia snapped her gaze back to Perfuma who, judging by the aim of the ship, was about to get engulfed in flames. Without thinking, Scorpia dashed back towards her. “Come on magic zappy stuff, come on…” she pleaded to herself, but…nothing. “Well, crud” she muttered to herself. The ship was closing in, a shadow in the hatch lighting up with the orange of lapping flames. Thinking of nothing else to do, Scorpia dashed up to between the ship and Perfuma, shielding her from impending blasts. “*huff* Sc-Scorpia?!” Perfuma asked, shocked “what are you doing?!”. “Hey, don’t worry about me!” she grimaced, waiting for impact “you’ve got a forest to protect, right? Well, I’m here to make sure that happGAHHHHHHH!”. She was cut off by a burst of flame licking at her back. The blast was short, but it was long enough to completely char Scorpia from tail to hair. “Oof. So…much for…temperature resistant…exoskeletons” she muttered before falling to the dirt. “SC…SCORPIAAAAAAAA!!” Perfuma screamed, staring down at her body. As her scream died out, the burned ground around her began to glow and burst with life, vines wrapping around her feet, daffodils growing and glowing on them each second. “you hurt…my friend” Perfuma growled, staring at the ground “you burnt my forest…You…will…PAY!”. Her face shot up, showing her eyes glowing a grass green. The sudden outburst was apparently enough to stagger the ship, because no flame came out to strike at her. Perfuma took this chance, and with a blast of magical energy, she extinguished all of the trees around her and grew them at astronomical speeds, speeds fast enough to knock the ship out of the sky! Seeing that the trees bought her some time, she quickly bent down to check on Scorpia. “Oh…Scorpia…” Perfuma whispered, tears filling her glowing eyes “why…why did you…I’m so sorry…”. She pulled Scorpia into a hug as tightly as she could, utilizing vines to provide extra heft. The forest fell silent, no one, not even the downed ship made a sound. But then, a blinding glow emitted from Perfuma that found it’s way to Scorpia, bathing them both in a green light. When it subsided, Perfuma sat over Scorpia’s body, but it was…healed! All of the burns, the lost hair, it grew back. Scorpia woke with a sputtering cough. “*cough, hack* oof, WOW everything is aching!” Scorpia muttered before looking up to Perfuma “hey, are you…crying?”. Perfuma said nothing, she only smiled and pulled her closer. “Wow, uh, usually I start the hugs, but this is neat too” Scorpia grunted, not wanting to admit that the hug was really REALLY hurting her. She then looked around to see that the forest wasn’t only extinguished, but really thick and tall too. “Hey, uh, did I miss something?” Scorpia asked, weakly.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Is it weird that I call Castaspella by her full name? I'd shorten it to Casta, but Glimmer wasn't in the scene. (Also, I add character and relationship tags whenever I add them to the story, so if you see the lost getting longer, that's why!)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A new Flame</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The peace didn’t last long, however, as two shadows landed in front of them with a resounding SLAM. Everyone jumped up in attack mode (except Scorpia, she was still healing). “Oh, wooooow!” the shorter shadow spoke “the flora appears to have grown at an exponential rate! If I can guess, it has grown a thousand years in under. TEN. SECONDS. UTTERLY ASTOUNDING!”. That shorter shadow sounded very familiar. “En…trapta?” Glimmer asked, lowering her hands. “Hello everyone!” Entrapta greeted, stepping forwards, clad in a technologically advanced armor “is there any more fire to extinguish? I REALLY wanted to test out the fire extinguishers on Kendra!”. “Wait who’s Kendra?” Frosta asked. “Oh, she’s the suit!” Entrapta explained “say hello Kendra!”. A “hello!” spoke from the suit. “And this…” Entrapta gestured while shimmying aside, leaving room for Hordak to step forward, his sleek battle suit shining in the light “is Florence!”. Florence's wings shot open and a booming “HELLO” resonated from the speakers. “Wooow, Hordak is looking a lot more like that little imp dude now” Mermista said with a smirk. “Entrapta was worried that I was jealous of my failsafe's flight capabilities” Hordak stated, brushing some leaves off of his left wing “I was not, but I appreciated the sentiment”.”. “YOU MAY HAVE HIS WINGS, BUT YOU’LL NEVER HAVE HIS LOVE FOR OUR BROTHER, TRAITOR!” A voice ricocheted from the wreckage. Everyone turned to see a massive Hordak clone exiting the downed ship, flames escaping from it’s mouth. “Ohhh, intriguing!” Entrapta chirped “it turns out that the flames Scorpia explained to me weren’t from the ship, but from an organism ON THE SHIP! I’ve never seen any sort of fauna in any part of Etheria BREATHE FIRE! May I study you?”. “SILENCE WRETCHED HUMAN!” the Hordak clone snarled. This caused Entrapta to wince, an action that did not fall past Hordak’s gaze. Growling, Hordak stepped in between the clone and Entrapta. “You will NOT raise your voice at her!” Hordak snarled. “YOU DARE DEFEND THESE ANIMALS?!” the clone asked, startled “YOU HAVE TRULY FALLEN FROM OUR BROTHER’S EYES. SINNERS LIKE YOU DESERVE A BAPTISM BY FIRE!”. Fire welled up in the clone's throat, but  Hordak was ready. “Florence, engage Protocol x-2 alpha”. “UNDERSTOOD” Florence’s voice boomed before the wings began to flap at high speeds, blowing the flame back into the clone’s throat. “Entrapta? Extinguishers.” Hordak requested. “You got it!” Entrapta said giving Hordak an ok with her hair. Raising her arms, she shouted “lights out Kendra!” and white foam shot from the launchers into the Clone’s throat, causing it to hack and cough. “YOU THINK SOME MEAGER HUMAN TECH CAN DEFEAT ME?!” it snarled through coughs. “No, I was hoping the princesses would jump in by now” he said, cocking his head to the group behind them “allies? If you would please.”. With a collective understanding, the princesses (that weren’t currently recovering or resting after their magic went supernova) jumped in. Netossa jumped in first and bound it in a net, followed by Mermista moving water down it’s throat. After that Glimmer teleported it above the tree line, Spinnerella launched it even higher, and, with a grand finale, Frosta turned the water inside the clone into ice spikes that shot through the Clone’s skin, destroying it in an instant. They waited, and waited, and with a *Plop* the Clone’s body hit the ground, a single ember drooling from what used to be it’s mouth. “Nice teamwork everyone!” Netossa congratulated “We fought like a well oiled machine! Especially you, Frostbite!”. “I KNOW, RIGHT! I WAS SO COOL!” Frosta boasted “I was like *SHINK!* And the clone was all *BABOOM* and I totally landed the k.o. blow!”. “You sure did, Frosta” Spinnerella said with a smile, tousling her hair. “remain on edge, princesses” Hordak stated “remember that this clone could’ve had an army with it.”. Jumping back at the ready, The alliance prepared for any new enemies emerging from the ship. Nothing. “Maaaybe they squished on impact?” Glimmer asked. “oh yeah, definitely” Scorpia piped up from behind “the ones we fought in the Wastes were suuuuper squishy”. The team got comfortable again. “Well, should we head back?” Glimmer asked “this is the closest that the clones have gotten to Brightmoon, so maybe we should set up some defense.”. “OH OH! Let’s take the spaceship!” Entrapta offered excitedly “I mean, Kendra and Florence do have flight capabilities, but I’ve ALWAYS wanted to ride a spaceship!”. “But don’t we need Adora to open the cockpit?” Glimmer asked. “*oof* no…need!” Scorpia chimed in, unsteadily getting to her feet “if it’s anything like when me and Catra fought in it, it should be pretty, uh, melted?”. “Wait, WHAT?!” Glimmer shouted “Scorpia! We need the ship as together as possible!”. “Whoa! Hey, it was the clone that melted it!” Scorpia replied, backing up “I asked that talking horse fella to open up the door when I, well, vaporized the clone. At least, I think I asked them? I dunno, that whole scenario was like 'woosh, Pow! You traitor graaaah! Boom!’ I-I think you get the idea.”. “well, at least this damage is helpful, right?” Perfuma asked, stumbling up next to Scorpia. “Perfuma is correct!” Entrapta chimed in “now NOTHING can keep us from getting in!”. With a “NYA HA HA!” she scampered off into the ship. “I HAVE always wished to see inside a first one’s ship” Hordak muttered inquisitively as he followed her in.  Looking to each other, the princesses follow them in, Scorpia stumbling over her feet. “Are you ok?” Perfuma asked her. “Oh, uh, yeah!” she reassured “just…just getting my feet back under me, ya know?”. “Well, do you need to lean on me?” Perfuma offered. Looking over to her, and then her shoulder, Scorpia slowly leaned onto her, making sure not to put all her weight onto the smaller woman. “Thanks” she thanked her with a weak smile. Perfuma gave her a weak smile back, and they both hobbled behind them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
Castaspella, Angella, and Light-Spinner watched as Adora and Catra continued to attempt to hit each other. “Are you really sure this will work?” Light-Spinner asked, getting tired of watching the two try to hit each other. “Well…no” Castaspella admitted “I honestly came up with it  when I walked in”. “Well, you certainly have Micah’s quick thinking” Light-Spinner commented a smile in her eyes. “I…thank you, I suppose” Castaspella mumbled, still not used to the one she'd been told to fear complimenting her. “Hey, should we have hit each other by now?” Adora asked from behind her blindfold. “She’s not sure!” Angella shouted back with a smile. “Wh-Angella!” Castaspella shouted at her, shocked. “What? They should know” she said , her smile not falling “…perhaps they’re distracted?”. “distracted? By what?” Castaspella asked. “Oh, they confessed to each other on the way in” Angella explained “you missed a first kiss." “Oh come on, Angella!” Castaspella gasped, turning to her, “you know I love first kisses! Especially if it’s one of Glimmer's friends!”. “What? You were busy with Light-Spinner!” Angella shot back with a laugh “maybe you should’ve trusted her in the first place”. “I had a feeling about the two of them ever since the darker me raised them” Light-Spinner leaned back, reminiscing, interrupting the sibling-in-laws back and forth “the shadows possessing me despised it, but, personally, I enjoyed it”. The two sisters-in-law were about to get back into it again, but they were interrupted by Light-Spinner having an idea. “Ah! What if they visualize their love?” Light-Spinner considered “if their confession just happened, the energy of their love could outshine their magical energy.”. “well, that’s worth a shot” Castaspella agreed “GIRLS, TRY THINKING OF YOUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER!”. Both turned to the trio blushing. “Oh, wh-what? Love? wha, uh…” Adora stammered on. “DON-DON’T JUST SAY STUFF LIKE THAT OUT LOUD! COME ON!” Catra snarled. “Come on girls! Don’t you have any other ideas?” Angella asked “Even Light-Spinner thought it was a nice idea!”. “And I’m just supposed to trust her?!” Catra growled. She looked back towards Adora’s direction to see…a faint blue light? “…no way” Catra muttered. “Oh thank goodness you see it too!” Adora let out a sigh of relief “I thought I’d been under here so long I was hallucinating!”. “Sounds like it’s working” Angella said with a smile “wonderful job, Light-Spinner”. “If I may brag, I was a master sorceress” she said, pride on her words. “I came up with half of it” Castaspella mumbled “YOU GIRLS SEE SOMETHING, RIGHT?”. “Uh, yeah?” Adora replied “I’m…supposed to see that…right?”. “Indeed” Light-Spinner confirmed “a new love would interweave with your magical energy, causing even the faintest of imprints to become visible. A simple trick”.  “aww, that’s cute!” Adora cooed “you hear that, Catra? Our love is magicOW!”. Adora was silenced by a bop to the head from a blue light that she could assume was Catra. “Aw shut it you dork” Catra said with a laugh “we’re fighting, remember? Also, got your bun”. Adora, hearing Catra blow a raspberry, determined this is war. She swung at the blue flame currently laughing at her as it flew back. “Remember? I’m better at combat drills!” Adora yelled to her “you can’t possibly beat my power!”. “Yeah, well, I’m faster!” Catra yelled back as Adora saw her flame close in. She grimaced, expecting her hair poof to take another strike, but the only strike that came was a sudden kiss on the lips. “Bwah? Huh? What?” Adora stammered out as Catra’s lips left hers, watching as her energy flame flared up. “Thought I’d make our flames a little more visible” Adora heard Catra whisper into her ear “also, you’re REALLY easy to distract”.  Before Adora could ask what she meant, she felt Catra’s staff slam against her legs, knocking her to the floor. “I think this means I win” Catra purred. Adora was still blindfolded, but she could definitely tell she was smirking. Adora did have another plan  though, as she spun attack at where she thought her legs were. Thanks to  a surprised *mrr!*, She realized she was right. Adora watched Catra’s flame hit the ground. “ow! I landed on my tail you jerk!” Catra grumbled. “huh, thought you’d land on your feet” Adora chuckled. Catra joined in with a *snnrk*, and they just sat there, two flames giggling in the middle of a darkness.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
“This is AMAZING!” Entrapta cooed as the others walked in. “Uhh, this just looks like a cockpit?” Mermista spoke up, looking around. “No no, THIS!” Entrapta chirped, whirling around, holding a three pronged disk. “W-wait, is that?!” Glimmer asked, shocked. “It’s the control disk I re-fused!” Entrapta chirped “oh, I didn’t realize I left it behind!”. As Entrapta was geeking over her long lost tech, Hordak examined the tendrils all over the ship. “I’ve never seen tech so capable” Hordak murmured, astonished. “Wait, I didn’t tell you about the disk? Entrapta asked “I could’ve SWOOOOOORN I told you about the disk! Although it seems a lot more powerful?”. “Powerful?!” Glimmer asked “that disc possessed ALL of your robots last time! How is one ship powerful?!”. “Oh, that’s just because I had powered it up with some of my own tech” Entrapta explained “it seems like the effects my tech granted were removed but the power remained! What an amazing dev-eh?”. Entrapta was cut off by the tendrils now wrapping around Kendra! “intriguing!” Entrapta gasped “the disc previously didn’t require physical limbs for integration, but now it relies on tendrils to control the tech! Also, I think I’m in danger.”. With a “wah!”, the tendrils encased her visor, cutting off further communication. “Entrapta!” Hordak shouted, worried. He dashed to her and started slashing off the tendrils. “Hordak! Hold on!” Entrapta’s voice rang out all around them. “Entrapta?” Hordak asked “are you…in the ship?”. “Technically!” her voice resonated “it seems like the disk syncing with Kendra has allowed me Access to the SHIP ITSELF! Perhaps that’s how the clones piloted the ship without a first one’s assistance! Sooooo cool! I’ve got to run some experiments!”. “Could…one of those experiments be us flying home?” Perfuma asked. “Oh, that could definitely be an interesting one!” Entrapta’s voice blipped excitedly around them “Kendra! Bring us u…”. “Uhh, shouldn’t the door be closed first?” Mermista interrupted “don’t wanna, y’know, fall out.”. “that’s right!” Entrapta’s voice confirmed “Kendra! Close us up and get us in the air!”. A buggy “Un…der….stood” blasted through the speakers, and with a slam, the hatch shut tight. “wow, that was a bit rough” Scorpia murmured “Hey, uh, Entrapta? Can you tell her to take it easy?”. “Huh?” Entrapta’s voice echoed over the speakers. But it was too late. The ship flung itself into the air, and with a *kra-koom!* It flung itself across the sky, the group inside screaming, well, except for Entrapta, she was cackling the whole way back.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Alright girls, that’s enough.” Light-Spinner called out from the sidelines. The two soldiers had danced around each other for about an hour now, landing blow after blow, a kiss here and there, but mostly blows. “Only if you tell us who won!” Adora said with a smirk, leaving her open to another hit from Catra. “And with that, I think I won” Catra snarked “I was counting”. “Oh, and how many of those were from you kissing me?” Adora shot back, taking off her blindfold. “8…9…who knows?” Catra laughed, pulling off her blindfold as well “honestly, I’m surprised it kept working”. “h-hey!” Adora stammered “we just got together, like an hour ago! Excuse me if I was enjoying myself”. “Aww, you’re just as dorky as the day you left” Catra mewled, holding out her hand. Adora gladly took it as the moved back to the three teachers. “Wonderful! The training plan worked!” Castaspella clapped her hands together “sooooo…what now?”. “Now that they have a visualization of their energies, it is their time to hone in on it and empower it” Light-Spinner explained, “with enough work, their personal magic should spring forth”. “May I join?” Angella asked. “M-my dear Queen!” Light-Spinner turned, startled “are you sure? You seem mighty powerful already!”. “a large portion of that is due to the moonstone, I’m afraid” Angella looked to the side with a disappointed smile, “I have done the visualization with Micah before, if that helps out at all!”. “I…as you wish, my Queen” Light-Spinner spoke with a bow “Castaspella, if you would please lead us to the meditation rooms. “Do you not remember where they are, master sorceress?” Castaspella jokingly jeered. “I…my apologies” Light-Spinner apologized, Casta's hearing her joking fall flat “I just assumed there could have been some moving about since I was last…cognizant”. “AH! No, no! We…did move about a bit!” Castaspella apologized right back, partially due to her joke falling, partially due to a childlike fear that she'll shadow-blast her “Let’s get moving!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. BOW 2099: TECHMASTER SUPREME</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It was either this title or a Sharkboy/Lavagirl reference</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bow was in the lab, tweaking the new toy the Lab duo made him, when he was interrupted by Light-Hope jumping to the screen. “BOW! Ah, there you are!” she gasped with relief “I had to traverse at LEAST four or five devices to find you!”. “Whoa whoa, hey! Take it easy Light-Hope!” Bow calmed her down “now what seems to be the problem?”. “Ah, of course, the issue at hand is that we have a first one’s ship closing in-” Light-Hope explained. “That just must be the one from the Crimson Wastes!” Bow intercut “Adora probably found a way to work it and is flying it back as we speak!”. “Unlikely” Light-Hope shot down “it appears to be covered in various tendrils, tendrils that appear to have the princess of Dryl captured.”. Bow's head shot up from his work. “That…is a problem” he stated “how close is it to Brightmoon?”. “I would say…one minute” Light-Hope gauged, garnering an audible reaction from Bow “perhaps less”. “hoookay!” Bow said panicked “y…you alert the guards! I’ll do some final prep on Bow-Bow!”. Light-Hope only looked confused. “Bow-Bow? That’s what I named…” Bow tried to explain, gesturing to the laser bow gauntlet “look, there’s no time! We need those guards!”. Light-Hope nodded and blipped off the screen. “oh, we’re on for it now, Bow-Bow” Bow whispered to his gauntlet.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
“Here is the SANCTUM!” Castaspella introduced, spinning into the room. “oooooohhh!” Adora looked around mystified, tugging Catra’s hand a bit “whhhat does that mean?”. “doesn’t look like any sanctum I know” Catra chimed in, letting herself get tugged little by little by her girlfriend “Hordak’s was a little more, like, dark and broody and stuff. This is really bright and…pillowy”. “If I may be so bold, that was just his lab” Light-Spinner explained “he just thought the name was cool”. “*pfft* that does sound like him” Catra said with a laugh. “Hey, I think It sounds cool!” Adora interjected, mock shock on her face. “And that sounds exactly like YOU too!” Catra laughed, poking Adora in the forehead with her free hand. That drew a laugh out of Adora which led to Catra joining in. “focus you two” Angella said, putting her hands on their shoulders of the two laughing young women “I believe Casta has a few things to say.”. “why yes, I do!” Castaspella confirmed “but I do believe that connection will serve you well!”. She walked over to a set of pillows and sat herself down on one on a raised platform. “Light-Spinner, if you may” she said, patting the pillow on the platform next to her. “Oh, I hope I remember the ritual” Light-Spinner said with a chuckle “it’s been so long since I preformed something non-runestone related”. She sat down on the cushion next to Light-Spinner, followed by Catra, Angella, and Adora on cushions set lower. “Now, if I…remember this correctly, the one in charge of the ritual casts a somnius sleep spell specifically crafted to create nightmares of the targets darkest fears”. Light-Spinner was interrupted by an audible growl from Catra. She looked over to see her looking down, tail puffed up. “do not worry, Catra.” Light-Spinner consoled “I am aware of your feelings about me, that’s why I trusted Castaspella with the spell.”. Castaspella cast her a shocked glance. “You shouldn’t need to worry either, Castaspella” Light-Spinner defused “if your truth spells are powerful, I’m sure your sleep spells will be grand too”. Castaspella let out an audible gulp, but then turned back to Light-Spinner with a nod. “Wonderful, now, the nightmare will be rough to defeat, it may not even happen today” Light-Spinner explained further “but once you override the fear, your personal Magics should flourish”. “a side note beforehand!” Castaspella chimed in “focusing on outside connections will DEFINITELY help in this trial! Such as family or romances”. Catra and Adora looked to each other and smiled, putting their hands in each other’s again. “hear that?” Adora asked “if you ever have any issues, just think of me!”. “Back at ya” Catra smiled back “but remember to make me hot”. “How can I? You’re too cute to be hot!” Adora said with a laugh. “I-Im not…” Catra stammered, before looking away with a blush on her face. “Are you all prepared?” Castaspella asked the group, a general nod answering her “Very well! A good night to you all!”. She then cast three runes and pushed them through Adora and the others, pulling them of on a deep, likely painful sleep.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“we’re coming in hot!” Entrapta shouted to her passengers “also the guards are at the front gate!”. “wait, the guards?” Glimmer asked “did the Horde already find Brightmoon?!”. “Unlikely!” Entrapta shot down “Kendra used the ship scanners to observe the area, and there are no chemical traces left by any Hordak clones. It does look like Bow is with them though! Oh, I bet he’s super excited to see this thing flying!”. As if to answer the question, a red hot arrow shot through the bottom of the ship. “I…really don’t think he is” Mermista quipped, staring at the arrow currently in the ceiling “just a guess though”. Another volley punctured the ship's hull. “hold on, I think I’ve got this!” Entrapta chimed in “Kendra? Repairs please!”. The tendrils began to grow rapidly towards the holes, filling them up. But it wasn’t fast enough, because arrow after arrow shot through again and again, punching more holes than the tendrils can fill. “OOOH hooh hooh! That must be from crossbow mode!” Entrapta’s excited voice resonated around the ship “It seems like it not only provides increased aiming capabilities, but ALSO a higher firing rate!”. A thought shot through Glimmer’s head like the arrows shooting through the ship. “Wait…what if they think WE’RE from The Horde!” she shouted, worried “this isn’t exactly the most friendly looking ship, after all”. “I THINK THAT’S KIND OF OBVIOUS AT THIS POINT!” Perfuma's panicked voice shouted from behind them, arrows closing in closer and closer to her. “Entrapta! Can we pull an emergency landing?” Glimmer asked “close enough to let them know where we are”. “Sounds like a plan!” Entrapta confirmed “Kendra? Take us down!”. The ship suddenly pulled to a stop and fell like a rock. “CAN…YOU…TELL…HER…TO…TAKE…IT...SLOWER?!” Glimmer attempted to shout as the sudden drop in gravity flung her to the ceiling. It didn’t seem like her words got through, sadly, as they continued to drop at an exponential rate to the ground below.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
“NonononoNO!” Bow muttered to himself as he dashed through the forest to where the ship crashed down “oh please let Entrapta be alive!”. “From what I can see, the Princess of Dryl has survived the fall” Light-Hope spoke from the gauntlet, the hardlight string vibrating with her voice “the tendrils cocooning her appear to have cushioned it”. Bow slowed down, letting out a sigh of relief. “Remain on your guard though, there are other life signatures on the ship” Light-Hope warned. Now pulled a glue arrow out of his quiver and nocked it into the bow, holding it at the ready as he entered the clearing where the ship landed. As he approached, he saw that the hatch was already open, and a large shadow was already exiting! “don’t move!” Bow shouted as he let the arrow fly. The glue arrow found it’s target, sticking them to the wall, and pulling a shocked “whoa! WHA!” out of them. Bow lowered his gauntlet, recognizing the voice he just stuck. “wait, Scorpia?!” Bow asked, surprised. “Oh! Heya Bow!” she shouted with a smile “wow, I DEFINITELY remember this one, as sticky and hard to move in as ever!”. Glimmer was the next one to step out. Instead of gluing her too, Bow powered down his gauntlet, then ran over and hugged her. “GLIIIIIIIMER!” he shouted “OH I’M SO SORRY! I ALMOST SHOT YOU OUT OF THE SKY!”. “H-hey, Bow! Take it easy! It’s fine” Glimmer defused with a laugh “it’s not like we flew in on a ship that exactly screamed 'WE AREN’T EVIL, DON’T SHOOT US!’”. “oh, I could’ve done that!” Entrapta said as she stepped out of the ship, Hordak rotating around her, pulling off any remaining tendrils “I only just found out actually!”. Mermista stumbled out, her face discolored. “Uuuugh” she groaned “this is why water travel is better.”.She then shot her hand to her mouth and ran off into the bushes. “weeeeell, alright?” Bow watched her as she ran before moving back to Glimmer “so, you’re sure you’re not hurt?”. “Well, I mean, I am” Glimmer grunted, rubbing her banged up head “B-but it wasn’t from you! It was the ship’s fault, really. That’s the last time I trust some horde tech as a pilot”. “Wait, horde tech?!” Bow asked, “what did I miss?”. “Tell you what, let’s head back to the Palace” Glimmer proposed “I REALLY need a pillow under me”. “I’ll make us some dinner!” Bow suggested as they walked off, leaving Frosta, Perfuma, and Scorpia with the ship. “Do you want me to try and freeze that off?” Frosta asked Scorpia, who was still on the wall. “Nah, I tried to take this stuff off before, didn’t work out well” Scorpia replied “better to let this, uh, run it’s course, ya know?.”. With a shrug, Frosta followed the others. “Are you sure you don’t want that off?” Perfuma asked further “I know the perfect flower to melt that right off!”. “M-melt?” Scorpia asked, a little frightened of melting from the fight in the Wastes “no no, for real! I’m alright!”. “You know what? I insist!” Perfuma said, putting her foot down “it’s the least I could do for saving me and my forest!”. Before Scorpia could interject again, Perfuma was already working on it. She tried and tried but…nothing. “What…? Why?” she mumbled to herself. “Huh that’s weird, but I’m sure it’s just on the fritz.” Scorpia said with her usual smile “I mean, from what I heard you burned a LOT of magic saving the forest and healing me-hey are you crying?”. Jumping at Scorpia mentioning it, she wiped away her tears. “Aw, d…don’t worry about me” she mumbled, “I-It’s stupid”. “Hey, if you’re crying about it, it’s not stupid” Scorpia stated bluntly. Perfuma then breaks into a sob. “O-oh, it’s just the stress of it all!” she sobs “the fire, you taking a hit for me, the arrows and now…this!”. “Oh, yeah that…that’s a lot to take in” Scorpia considers from her spot on the wall “but ya don’t need to worry about me! I’ll be alright!”. “Oh…th-that’s not why I wanted to…” Perfuma mutters, blush on her cheeks. “Wait, huh?” Scorpia asked, a bit shocked “you…you don’t want me down?”. “No no! I didn’t mean it like that!” Perfuma backed off “it’s just…I-I had this plan and…”. “Ooh, plans! Big fan of those!” Scorpia excitedly said from her ship wall “was I in it?”. “Uh…y-yeah” Perfuma grumbled, her blush growing larger “I was…going to kiss you?”. “WHAT?!” Scorpia shouted, her whole body jumping from the surprise. Luckily that jump was enough to tear her from the wall. “SCORPIA!” Perfuma shouted surprised, scrambling over to where she landed “are you alright?”. “*oof* mhm, yep” Scorpia grunted from the ground “just…wow I’m…I’m a bit shocked ya know”. She looked up into Perfuma’s eyes as they sat there in the grass for a bit. “sooooo…uh, I-I know the plan failed, buttttt…do you still wanna ki-mmph!” Scorpia stammered before Perfuma’s lips locking with hers threw her off. They sit there for a few seconds before letting go. “whoa” Is all Scorpia had to say. “Yeah” Perfuma replies with a smile. “YES! I knew this'd play out!” a voice shouts from behind them. The two new lovebirds turn to see Netossa and Spinnerella stepping off the ship. “we’re sorry for interrupting the moment” Spinnerella said with an awkward smile “it’s just so nice to see new love blooming”. “Heck yeah it is!” Netossa excitedly shouts “and hey, if y’all ever wanna double date, me and Spinny are always open to some game night!”. The two walk off towards palace, leaving the Scorpia and Perfuma in the dirt. “Do…do you…uh…” Scorpia mutters, cocking her head to the palace. “Uh…yes! Yes, sure.” Perfuma stammers. The two then stand up and follow after Spinnerella and Netossa, Perfuma putting a hand on Scorpia’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Catra woke up in the sanctum, confused. “Hey, Adora?” Catra asked next to her “am…am I supposed to be up?”. But no answer came. She turned to see Adora's pillow empty. “Hey,  uh, Queen Glimmer’s mom? Where’s Adora?” Catra asked, turning to her other side, but Angella wasn’t there either. “looking for the others? You won’t find them” A voice groaned from the raised platform. Catra’s head snapped forward, and she saw Light-Spinner with her back turned to her, but her voice was…different. “Light…Spinner?” Catra asked, cautiously. “Oh! Has my ruse finally fooled even you…CATRA!?” Light-Spinner growled as she spun around, sending out a tendril of dark magic, striking Catra to the ground. “N-no, it’s not…possible!” Catra whimpered from the floor. “Not possible that I hid my true power? Not possible that I fooled even the Princess Alliance?” the voice she thought was Light-Spinner asked “under that coldness, you really are a moron”. Catra felt a hand shoot to her chin, forcing her eyes to meet with, not a veil and two kind green orbs, but a mask, and two angry white voids. “Yesssss…YES! I can feel your fear!” Shadoweaver purred “show me! Show me the POWER I hold over you!”. “Sh-Shut up!” Catra shouted, batting Shadoweaver’s hand away “what did you do to the others?!”. “Oh Angella and Castaspella? I merely disposed of them” Shadoweaver explained, a laugh in her throat “oh, but Adora? She just up and left when I told her to! You know how my favorite child can be sooooo obedient…”. “GRAAAAAAH! SHUT! UP!” Catra shouted, flinging herself at Shadoweaver. “Oh, what’s wrong pest?” Shadoweaver mocked, throwing a dark shield up “mad I out witted you? Mad I’m more powerful than you? Or are you mad that Adora has left you…AGAIN?”. “I. SAID. SHUT. UP!” Catra snarled, her final strike shattering Shadoweaver’s shield. Before Shadoweaver could react, Catra dashed up and DESTROYED her mask with a single swing, sending her tumbling across the ground. “So much for…” Catra started to mock, but when she approached the body, she saw that the face that was under the mask was…Adora’s! “wha…when?” Catra stumbled before feeling a sword at her back. “Why did you hurt me, Catra?” the voice whispered. Catra whirled to see Adora standing there, fully transformed, and a face that screamed anger. “But…how…what…” Catra stammered, looking over to see where the Adorweaver body landed, but there was nothing “Adora…I-I'm sorry”. “I’ve lost faith in you” Adora spat with distaste “This friendship, this relationship, OVER.”. She then brought her sword down over Catra, who narrowly missed being a Magicat Shish kabob. Seeing no other choices, Catra made a mad dash for the exit. “you can run, Catra” Adora shouted as Catra slammed the door “But you CAN’T. HIDE.”.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(I know I've just been running with the canon couples for this, but I've been thinking of doing side pieces of non-canon ships)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Here's the Sharkboy/Lavagirl reference. Also, someone gets stabbed, but OOOOOH IT'S, IT'S A NIGHTMARE STAB! SOOOOO THERE'S NO WOUND BUT IT STILL HUUUUUURTSSSSS, OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Adora was the next to awaken, finding herself in the Beacon. “Well…this doesn’t seem right” Adora mumbled while rubbing her head. “What does not seem right?” a mechanical voice spoke from behind her. Adora got up and turned around to see Light-Hope projected in the middle. “LIGHT-HOPE!?” Adora shouted “wait, which Light-Hope are you? ARE YOU THE HORDE ONE?! No no, you aren’t green enough…”. “I…am the same Light-Hope I always was” Light-Hope spoke, confused “ I do not understand the prr…prr…rooooooooobbbbbb”. The Light-Hope in the middle fizzled out, along with every light in the main hall, leaving Adora in the dark. “Light-Hope? LIGHT-HOPE?!” Adora shouted into the dark “a-are you Mara’s Light-Hope? This is a prank, right?”. A light behind her shone a bright blue. Adora turned to it to see Light-Hope once more. “oh, thank goodness, there you are!” Adora let out a sigh of relief “now, do you know what’s going on”. “what’s going on is you’re a failure” the Light-Hope spoke in an unnaturally…well, natural voice, almost human even. This caused Adora to step back. “Wha-what do you mean?” Adora asked shocked. “I mean that you have failed your duty to protect everyone” the Light-Hope pushed harder “people are hurt day by day by these Horde clones and you are what? Hanging around with a bunch of stuffy old wizards trying to remove an artifact that is IMPERATIVE to She-Ra’s victory? You betray not only your people but also the people of this planet. Perhaps you need a…replacement?”. Light-Hope’s form shifted, her hologram going from a cyan to a light green. When it stopped, Adora stared at…herself? Well, not exactly herself, the hologram was green and had two extra eyes, but aside from that, perfect copy! “You are no longer needed” the holo-Adora spoke in Adora’s voice, but more…sinister “now fall you useless cretin!”. The holo Adora stepped off of the projector, her skin going from a light translucent green to a pasty opaque grey and, before Adora could react, Greydora LUNGED at her, sword drawn! Adora went for her own sword, but found…nothing. “Of course you’d find nothing!” Greydora mocked “you do not deserve it! You and I both know it, so be honest!”. Adora’s face fell for a moment, but she shot her eyes back to her opponent with a newfound, yet shaky, resolve. “I…I do deserve it!” Adora shouted, sounding not entirely sure of her own words “I…I…GAAAAH!”. Not finding words to be enough, Adora dashed at her duplicate, fists raised. “Catra was right, we are an idiot” the clone stated with a sadistic grin. Slightly fazed, Adora reaffixed herself and threw her punch…that phased right through her clone. “Did you really think you could hit me?” Greydora asked as Adora stumbled to the ground behind her “I mean, like, I know you hate yourself, but just feelings won’t save you!”. Adora, wiping some grime off of her face, got up and charged again, whiffing once more. “Speeeaking of Catra.” Greydora sneered “do you seriously still have faith in her? Sure she’s with us now, but can she be trusted even still?”. “Of COURSE I trust her!” Adora growled, going on for another punch, but she was stopped by a sudden *SHINK*! Adora looked down to see the sword driven right through her stomach. “Why? Because she smooched you?” Greydora baby-talked at her newly skewered counterpart “don’t make me LAUGH!”. With a flick of her wrist, Greydora tossed Adora off of her blade and into a wall, leaving a sizeable crater. When she got her senses together, Adora brought her hands down to her stomach, expecting a gash, a cut, anything. But nothing was there. Then why? Why did it hurt like hell? “Because I want it to!” Greydora laughed “you’ve hated yourself day by day for NOT being the best you could be, for NOT living up to expectations, so I thought I’d add some PHYSICAL pain to liven things up a bit!”. Before Adora could ask why, Greydora had already launched herself at her, the blade landing right next to her head. Adora dodged out of the way and dashed down a nearby hall. “running away?” Greydora cackled “see? You are terrible at this!”. Adora spared a brief glimpse back and saw…no one? “oh I'm still there” a sly variant of her own voice resonated from behind her. “I’m over here too!” the voice spoke ahead of her!”. “and, here, and here, and here, and here, and here and here, and…well you get the idea” the voice laughed from angle after angle all around Adora “don’t you get it, you failure? I’m all around this place because I AM this place, and you. Are not. Escaping!”. Adora was met on all sides with darkness, her own voice cackling as she ran deeper into the abyssal building.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Angella slowly awoke to what felt like water lapping at her feet. “Wh…where…” Angella muttered sitting up. She looked around to see she was on an island, but none of the colors were right. The skies were purple, the trees blue, and the water…the water was red. Angella got up and stared into the discolored water. The face she was met with wasn’t her own though, it was Micah’s. “Hello Angella, it’s been awhile” the reflection spoke. Angella shot away from the water, fright spreading on her face. “yet, it hasn’t, has it?” Micah’s voice now spoke in her head “you think about me, day after day. It’s almost like I never left”. “No…please…” Angella muttered bringing her hands to her head “do not do this…”. “do not do…what Angella?” Micah’s voice asked “all of this, the reason I’m here, it is your doing”. Angella came down with a splitting headache, driving her to the green discolored sands, opening her mouth to yell, but no words came. “all you need to do…is forgive yourself” the Micah voice requested “you cannot keep blaming yourself for my death”. “I’m the one…that gave the order” Angella pushed out “how…can I not?”. The headache suddenly left her. “If that is how you feel…so be it” the voice spoke, not in her head this time, but next to her. She looked over to see Micah standing there, but his whole body was encased in shadow. “If you won’t forgive yourself then I need to make you wish you didn’t remember. Forgive me…Angella” the Shadow Micah apologized before sinking into the sands. The trees, the sky, even the water then turned on her, seeping a darkness that shot out and wrapped around her limbs before she could fly away. “last chance, Angella” Shadow Micah said from next to her “please, forgive yourself. My death wasn’t your fault”. “…why do you keep speaking like you’re Micah?” Angella asked with a weary smile. The shadow Micah looked shocked for a moment before matching her smile. “I shouldn’t have second guessed my own memory” the Shadow Micah said with a smirk before melting and transforming into Angella herself “when did you remember?”. “when the trees started shooting shadows at me” Angella explained to…herself “I tend to latch to realism. I’m afraid I’m boring like that.”.   Letting her real world counterpart go, the two let themselves to the ground. “so…my fear is me forgiving myself for Micah’s…passing” the real Angella muttered as she looked to the discolored sand below her. “I am afraid that is so” the dream Angella explained “and seeing how we are the same mind, I understand how…difficult forgiving yourself for such a thing.”. “well, as I am lucid, can I ask for your assistance in fixing this?” real Angella asked “perhaps a second head will be useful?”. The two stood on the discolored island, pondering this. “What if…this island isn’t a coincidence?” the mind Angella stated “what if…this is a sign?”. “are you saying this could be a premonition?” Angella asked herself. “this is a magically induced dream, so this island could be a hint of sorts” dream Angella explained. The two decided to take to the skies, observing this island of symbolism, but all they saw was scraps of tech. “this may be all I need” real Angella spoke “but do you really believe all of this could be a sort of sign?”. “All we can do is hope and wait” dream Angella said before disintegrating away “wait and hope this grief comes to an end”.</p><p> </p><p>Angella’s eyes burst open, glowing a dark purple for a mere second, and she shot up. “ANGELLA?!” Castaspella shouted, surprised “are youuuu…okay? Do you feel any different?”. “there is no time, I’m afraid” Angella explained away, holding her hand to her head “I…I need to find an island with tech scraps on it. It…it was in my dream.”. “An island with…tech?” Light-Spinner asked, confused before horror spread to her face “my word! You could not mean Beast Island!”. “If that is the island I need, Light-Spinner, then I’m afraid that’s exactly what I mean.”. “then please! Let me assist!” Light-Spinner pleaded “I could not imagine you hurt!”. “I will be fine Light-Spinner.” Angella said with a warm smile, stepping towards a window “I expect you to care for these two anyways. you be sure to help her Casta.”. “o-of course!” Castaspella chirped “Light-Spinner said I am nearly as powerful as Micah after all!”. Micah’s name brought a frown to Angella’s face, but she quickly wiped it away. “Very well” she smiled at the two masters “I leave them in your care.”. Angella then extended her wings and shot off, looking for an Island that may house her missing half. “What on Etheria was that all about?!” Castaspella asked Light-Spinner once Angella was out of earshot “I’ve never seen Angie so…determined”. It was Light-Spinner’s turn to be confused. “Angie? Is her name not Angella?” she asked. “We-well…it’s just an old nickname alright?” Castaspella mumbled “anyways, what do you think happened to her?”. “Hmmm…perhaps her dream gave her a different outcome?” Light-Spinner proposed “maybe she needs something in this world to release her magics.”. “hmm…I suppose that ma-“ Castaspella started but was interrupted when she felt a sudden spike of energy from…Catra’s visor? “Did you…?” Castaspella led in to Light-Spinner. Light-Spinner nodded in response. Then they both turned to Catra’s sleeping form, wondering what her dream held.</p><p> </p><p>Catra dashed around a winding corner and hid in the shadows. She was about to look out into the light, but the thumping and growling she was able to pick up told her that was a bad idea. “what makes you think I’ve ever wanted you?” the giant Adora growled “I’ve NEVER liked you! If I ever did, it was because I thought you were DANGEROUS!”. The giant Adora trudged off down the hall, giving Catra time to breathe. It wasn’t long though, because she felt a hand on her shoulder. “a-are y-y-you the new Magicat Queen?” a buggy, mechanical voice requested. Catra whirled to see a glitching hologram of a young Magicat staring into her eyes. “Are you the new Magicat Queen?” the hologram spoke with a clearer voice. “Uh, sure? I dunno.” Catra dismissively replied “I’m kinda, you know, hiding?”. “Why should the Magicat Queen need to hide?” the holocat asked “you should contain more power than your enemy can hold!”. “Yeah, well, I dunno how to-wait who even are you?”. “I am Catnip!” the hologram pointed to herself with pride on her face “I am an avatar contained within the Magicat crown made to assist the sitting Magicat Queen! It’s a pleasure, milady!”. “Wh…what?” Catra stumbled, hearing the stomping come back “uh, cool cool ok, keep quiet for a few seconds, got it?”. With a nod and a grin, Catnip zipped away, leaving Catra alone in the shadows once more. “you want to know why I think you’re dangerous? You’re STILL seeking POWER! Why do you even NEED a gang, WHY DO YOU NEED MORE POWER CATRA?!” the giant Adora roared at the top of her lungs before trudging off once more. “Ooh, do you know her?” Catnip asked, shooting back in and startling Catra. “DON’T DO THAT!” Catra shouted. The thumping stopped, and then travelled back to her. “Crap crap crap!” Catra panicked “uhh…. Uuhhhh, CATNIP! Can you get me outta here?”. “Unless you mean 'wake you up' then I don’t think I can help ya escape your own head” Catnip stated. “Wait…my own head?” Catra asked “what do you mean?”. “You’re dreaming, Queenie” Catnip explained “you were asleep when I activated.”. “if this is….then…” Catra processed “ok, I think I’ve got it!”. Catra sped into the hallway the giant Adora was currently barreling down, Catnip following. “how are you on duplication, Catnip?” Catra asked her newly acquired ally. “oh that’s entry level stuff!” Catnip chirped, throwing up an ok sign “leave it to me Queenie!”. Dashing in front of Catra, Catnip flexed suuuuper hard and puffed her body up to match the beastial Adora’s body and dashed at the oncoming beast! The two collided and Catnip wrapped her arms around the Adora beast. “What now, Queenie?” Catnip asked behind her. “Now I deal the death blow!” Catra shouted with a grin. She charged in at the two grappling giants and jumped onto big Adora’s back. “Jig’s up, you aren’t real are you?” Catra whispered into Big Adora’s ear. With a loud *BANG* the Adora hulk exploded, blasting Catnip and Catra backwards. Standing in the rubble was…Catra? “Hey Queenie?” Catnip asked, turning back to normal “she’s a lot less blond, also she looks like you?”. “I mean, if my thinking is right, she is me” Catra explained “also…just call me Catra, alright?”. “Whoa! I was never able to call a queen by their NAME!” the young cat gasped with wonder “I mean, there was one time, but that was suuuuuuper long ago and, you know what, it’s a long story…Catra!”. Looking away with a confused look, Catra turned to the rubble Catra. “Hey, sorry if Catnip hugged you too hard” Catra apologized to…herself. “eh, it’s fine by me” Brain Catra  shook off “It’s not like I’m real anyways.”. “so…all that stuff was my thoughts, huh?” Catra muttered. “well? Yeah” Brain Catra replied “but I’m pretty sure you already knew we were screwed up”. “HA! Y-yeah” Catra let out a nervous laugh “yeah…”. They stood there silently, Catnip shooting them curious glances. “look, I’m here to help you, alright? Now that, y’know, I’m not full nightmare mode anymore” Brain Catra explained “And, I know not all of this will get solved now, but let’s just…focus on the easy ones. Sounds good?”. Catra took a deep breath and then whispered out a “sure”. “…look” brain Catra spoke in a softer tone “I understand all of this feeling stuff is hard to talk about, hell some of this will need more than just talking to yourself to solve, but, let’s take baby steps, sound good?”. “uh…sure!” Catra perked up “It just feels kinda weird, ya know?”. “hey, I’m the one in your brain” Brain Catra snarked “I know exactly what you mean.”. The awkward silence was broken by their tired laughter, bringing a smile to Catnip's face. “So, lemme guess, the gang, huh?” Catra said. “Jumping right in, eh? Shouldn’t expect any less from me” Brain Catra said with a smirk “so…what are we gonna do?”. “Not…sure.” Catra mumbled “like, I’m sure you know we don’t actually need…or want that power but…it’s the reason me and Adora are together now...I don’t wanna just drop it, drop them.”. “well, why not just keep the jacket?” Brain Catra asked “It seems much easier to keep than a bunch of sand logged buffoons.”.  “well it was also the first time in awhile that I was happy” Catra muttered. “there it is!” Brain Catra shouted with a grin “now, me, listen. You’ve got a musclebound blonde girlfriend to keep you happy now. Wouldn’t it be better to leave the gang as a memory?”. “WHA? WHAT IS UP WITH YOU!?” Catra shouted, embarrassed. “OOH! Queen Catra has a Queen herself!?” Catnip cooed, stars in her eyes “I’ve never served TWO QUEENS AT ONCE! So new! So fun!”. “N-not now, Catnip! And just call me Catra!” Catra stammered before pulling Brain Catra in closer “what’s the deal?!”. “Catra. I am a literal personification of your mind” Brain Catra explained flatly “I think what you think, no matter how deep that thought is, and this thought specifically is clawing it’s way to the surface! So, why not accept the happiness you’ve got in front of you?”. “Oh come-YOU KNOW WHY!” Catra growled, pushing Brain Catra back before sulking to the floor “I’m just…worried she doesn’t trust me. I…I hurt her so much”. Catra’s eyes started to spill tears to the floor of the dream, overcome by her doubts. “Hoohkay, sorry if this is weird but…” Brain Catra led in before diving dowin and pulling her corporeal counterpart into a hug. “Wha…huh?” Catra asked through her tears. “yeah, I know” Brain Catra Whispered “Scorpia’s are better”. Brain Catra then pulled back and put her hands on Catra’s shoulders. “Look, I get it, the feeling that we don’t deserve it, but if it’s any consolation, Adora trusts Shadowea-well, Light-Spinner. If she asking HER for help, who’s to say we don’t have a chance?”. “How is that supposed to make me feel better?” Catra growled, shooting her a glare. “Yeah, I don’t know” Brain Catra concluded “I realized how dumb it sounded SECONDS after I said it. We aren’t exactly the best at pep talks, are we?”. Suddenly, the walls began to wave back and forth dizzily. “Crap you’re waking up!” Brain Catra looked around worriedly “Catra! If there’s anything you should try from this: Love yourself! And if that doesn’t work, trust that Adora will love you the best she can!”. Before Catra could ask anything else, everything faded to black.</p><p> </p><p>Catra woke up with a Yelp, startling Castaspella and Light-Spinner. “Goodness! If I had known I would’ve been scared so much, I wouldn’t have done this!” Castaspella gasped. “Try getting chased after by a giant angry version of your girlfriend” Catra grumbled before looking around. She was met with stars through the open window, and a lack of a certain sparkly queen. “Hey, where’s Glimmer’s mom?” Catra asked, still groggy. “she…went to Beast Island…” Light-Spinner muttered. It took Catra a few seconds to understand what she said, but when it hit her, she jumped to her feet! “AND YOU LET HER?!” Catra shouted “you are REALLY bad at giving me reasons to trust you!”. “I TRIED TO STOP HER!” Light-Spinner growled, before reeling back in shock “I’m…I'm sorry…”. “*tch* whatever” Catra grumbled, turning to Adora “Adora, wake up! Your 'ally' just sent our Queen to Beast Island!”. “She won’t budge, Catra” Castaspella interjected “it’s a magic induced sleep. She isn’t going to wake up by anyone outside her own mind”. “Wait, so you CURSED US?!” Catra shouted “why didn’t you tell us it was a curse?!”. “I think I’ll leave that to…” Castaspella said while turning to Light-Spinner, only to see  she was turned away “…me, I guess. So, the Somnius Sleep spell was designed by the Elder Wizards of Mystacor to test the strongest of us. The best, those able to beat their demons, emerged victorious and powerful. The weaker ones are…trapped in a…eternal…sleep…”. Catra could only stare at Castaspella in shock. “Bu…but look at the bright side!” Castaspella stammered “you made it out! That means you’re really strong now…right?”. “YEAH, BECAUSE I HAD HELP!” Catra snarled, confusing Castaspella. “Wait, help?” Castaspella asked. “yeah, Catnip, she’s a little spirit that lives in the crown” Catra explained “she was made to serve the queen of the Magicat…LOOK THERE’S NO TIME!”. Catra tore the crown off her head and slapped it onto Adora’s sleeping forehead. “CATNIP! Queen Adora is in danger!” Catra shouted to the spirit of the crown “please…help her!”. “You got it, Queen Catra!” Catnip chirped back through the crown, and with a flash of light, the crown shone with the brightness of a runestone. “…Queen…Catra?” Castaspella questioned. “I told her just to call me Catra” Catra mumbled “I-it’s a long story, okay?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Sleeping Pretty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Guess what? I have actual paragraph breaks now! They might not be the best, but they aren't just massive walls of text anymore! (Also, I realized that I said Catra saw stars last chapter, even though Etheria wouldn't have stars at this point, so that's a big ol screw up on my part. An "oopsy woopsy" as the Tumblr error messages would call it)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Adora stumbled through the endless halls, running from her demonic duplicate. “Still running? You’re that much of a coward?” Greydora cooed from all around her “and you call yourself She-Ra, utterly pathetic!”. Adora felt something come up and slash her in the back. She whirled around and saw an arm growing out of the wall holding a duplicate of the Sword of Protection. “Cool trick, right?” Greydora smirked “but wait, there’s MORE!”. The arm was then joined by two more, then give more, then, before Adora could blink, there was a wave of sword arms closing in on her. Adora spun back around and ran as quickly as she could in the other way, still reeling from her new invisible wound. “well that’s original” Greydora grumbled “lets change things up!”. Adora felt a sword shoot through her thigh, holding her in place. “No…no!” Adora shouted, worried. She tried to tug at her pierced leg, hoping and praying she could get free, but to no avail. “nowhere left to run, Adora” Greydora cackled “Now, feel the power of the TRUE SHE-RA!”. Adora could only watch as the wave of swords closed in on her. She braced for impact, for thousands of swords to dive through her, but…nothing. </p><p> </p><p>She opened her eyes to see a wall of magic barring her from the wave. “Heya Queen Adora! It’s nice to meet Queen Catra’s wife!” Catnip chirped as she sidled into Adora’s view. Adora could feel her face making up for all of the red her invisible sounds skimped out on, but before she could ask anything, Catnip was already hunched over her pierced leg. “Oof, wow that looks like it stings, lemme help!” She offered. Her palm glowing, Catnip slapped the sword, causing it to shoot back into the ground below. Adora expected to feel a shooting pain that should accompany a sword being taken out of your leg, but she was just met with a warm energy, a warm energy that coursed up her body relieving any and all wounds she felt. “Wha…? Who are you?” Adora asked, utterly confused. “I’m Catnip!” Catnip introduced herself with the very same proud expression she showed Catra “I serve the sitting Magicat Queen and her family!”. “Famil…what?!” Adora asked, Catnip’s introduction not exactly freeing much up, but before Catnip could answer, her ears shot up. “Yep! She’s all right now!” Catnip spoke to no one Adora could see, “oh, you wanna talk to her? Absolutely!”.</p><p> </p><p> Catnip’s form shifted into Catra, causing Adora to jump back. “Adora! Are you okay?!” Catra asked, worried. “uh, yeah! Yeah I am!” Adora replied “just a bit..confused. why did this Magicat kid call me your wife?”. It was Catra’s turn for blush to spread across her face. “I…I don’t know how she got to that” Catra muttered into her hand “look, long story short, that little visor I wear is actually the Magicat Queen's crown, Catnip lives in the crown to help the Queen, and now I told her to help you. Also, you’re under the effect of a nightmare curse and only you can wake yourself up. did you get all that?”. “Parrrrtially?” Adora said with a sheepish grin, drawing a groan out of Catra. “Ok, I got enough to understand, it is a lot to take in though” Adora grunted as she got up from the ground “any way you can get in here too?”. “you could try that whole “imagine me” thing” Catra explained “but remember, HOT, not cute, HOT!”. “alright, alright” Adora laughed with a weary smile “as you wish, your majesty”. Letting out another groan, Catra disappeared, morphing back to Catnip. “Alright, Catnip!” Adora said with a smile “ready to bust some nightmares?”. “Ready as I’ll ever be, Queen Adora!” Catnip replied, saluting. Then they both dropped down and started concocting a plan.</p><p> </p><p><br/>Their concocting was cut short though as one of the sword-arm-tentacle things bust through Catnip’s barrier. “looks like things are cut short” Adora said, looking to the cracked barrier with a worried look “you got this, Catnip?”. “Ab-so-lutely!” Catnip chirped back. They both jumped up and whirled to meet the wave breaking further and further through the barrier. Catnip whirled and transformed into a blade, throwing herself into Adora’s hand. “For the Honor of GRAYSKULL!” Adora shouted, holding Catnip aloft. With a flash, Adora transformed into She-ra! Just it wasn’t the normal transformation she was used to. “Why…am I in a dress?” Adora asked Swordnip. “Even in battle, a queen’s gotta have regality” Swordnip explained “at least that’s what Leenix the Kind told me once”. “Well, uh, this isn’t exactly easy to move I…” Adora started, before getting an idea “wait…can you put knives on the hem?”. “Done and done, miss!” Swordnip mewled. Adora looked down again to see the bottom of the dress was now accompanied by rows upon rows of gold knives. “now THIS I can fight in!” Adora said with a grin, brandishing her sword shaped ally, ready to strike out against the wave of arms reaching out to strike her back. Swinging Swordnip forwards, Adora used the momentum to drag herself into a spin, raising the knives on the hem of her dress. Adora felt the knives and Catnip dig through the wave of arms and when she stopped, she looked around to see swordarmtacles lying around her left and right, dissolving into shadow.</p><p> “wooow, not bad” a growling voice sneered behind them “you spun in a circle! How strategic”. Adora spun to see Catra standing there. “C-Catra! You made it!” Adora shouted excitedly. “Yep, asked Casty to let me in and she let me on ahead. Pretty cool huh?”. Adora stopped short before letting out a cackle that her grey doppelganger would feel scared by. “wow, yeah, you’re definitely brain me” Adora smirked “like, I was kinda tricked, sure, but CASTY? Really?”.  “oh, like you could do better!” the Catra dupe growled. The growl was then punctuated by five blades shooting through the Catra dupe's chest. “You know what? I actually can” Adora said with a smile “meet Magicatra!”.</p><p> </p><p><br/>The blades dragged up through the dupe's body, cutting it to ribbons. As it poofed, it revealed the image of Adora’s mental savior. Catra stood there, coated in the armor of She-Ra and, instead of a sword, each of her claws mimicked the blade of the sword of protection (except the claws were, like, smaller? Adora thought to-scale blades would be uncomfortable). “This is what you consider hot?” Catnip asked, turning back into her original form. “Yeah?” Adora replied, blushing “is-is it wrong?”. “No no, I’m just confirming the preferences of my queen’s wife” Catnip explained, backing off “also, I’ve seen the appeal. Queen Claw of the fifth dynasty? Musclebound warrior and all around crowd pleaser”. “glad I was summoned in time” Magicatra grinned as she walked over to the two “now how about we get outta here?”. “Well, this is some sort of magic dream, right?” Adora decided “shouldn’t I get that solved first?”. “W-wait? You already knew it was a dream?!” someone asked behind her. She turned to see a copy of her falling out of the wall. “crap, I’m sorry! I was supposed to stop when you got lucid!” Brain Adora apologized. “wai-wai-wait, so you AREN’T trying to stab me anymore?!” Adora asked. “Yeah, uh, sorry about that” Brain Adora apologized again before noticing Catnip “aww! Who’s this little cutie!?”. “me? I’m Catnip!” Catnip introduced herself as if Brain Adora didn’t just try to kill them “I’m the sword she used to transform in the brain fight!”. “iiiiignoring the whole using a kid to fight me part, you can shapeshift! SOOOO coool!”.</p><p> “Sooooo…me?” Adora asked, getting her subconscious construct’s attention “What’s my big secret?”. “Well, the self loathing is the biggest one, the probably obvious” Brain Adora thought aloud “also, self sacrifice. That one is getting pretty high up too”. “Self…sacrifice?” Adora asked “but…I’m a hero! We're a hero! Shouldn’t self sacrifice be my whole thing?”. “I’m gonna be blunt with you here…me, geez that is really confusing” Brain Adora interrupted herself “anyway, we’re a barely-adult that had a big ol destiny dropped right on us. We just have to consider ourselves once and awhile, ya know? Take a day off once and awhile! Punch a few punching bags! They probably deserve it anyways.”. “I…well…huh…” Adora trailed off, considering her mind duplicates truth bomb. She didn’t have much time to consider it though, because the walls began to shift and crumble. “Hey, I thought you said you were DONE trying to kill us!” Catnip growled. “No-Not me this time!” Brain Adora shouted over the falling rubble “Adora's waking up!”. “W-wait! Is there anything else that I need to know?!” Adora shouted to brain her. “This may just be an effect of the weird curse thing but…Mara says hi” Brain Adora stated, in a weirdly serious way. And with that, the dream fell into darkness as Adora woke.</p><p>Adora’s eyes fluttered awake, her eyes meeting with Catra’s, who was watching her intently. It also looked like a…light was reflecting off her eyes? Adora pulled herself up and looked down to see that…she was transformed! “Ha…ha ha! I did it!” Adora shouted excitedly, pulling Catra into a hug “Catra! I did it!”. “Uh, we did it?” Catra interjected with a smirk “if it wasn’t for my little friend in the crown, you would’ve still been stuck in your own head. Speaking of…”. Catra reached on top of Adora’s head (which was much higher up now thanks to the transformation) and plucked off the crown. “Heya Miss Catra!” Catnip chirped from within the crown as Catra put it back on her head “wait until you hear about the battle!” and then in a smaller whisper “and Adora’s preferences~ wink wink?”. “did…did you just audibly say wink?” Catra asked “nevermind, we should probably be getting back to Brightmoon. SOMEBODY let Queen Angella fly off to BEAST ISLAND.”. Adora followed Catra’s sidelong glare, but she already guessed the target. Light-Spinner could only look away again. Upon a longer look around, Adora saw Castaspella wasn’t in.</p><p> She wasn’t gone long though, as she rushed back in a few seconds later, startling the sparkly giant. “News from Brightmo-!” Castaspella  shouted as she ran in, her gaze falling on Adora “oh, you were able to transform! That’s wonderful!”. “Thanks! I have no clue how I did it!” Adora said with a grin “but what’s the news?”. “News? Oh right!” Castaspella jumped “the princess of Dryl said she did some scans of the island and, good news: there is a human presence!”. “So, what does that mean?” Adora asked. “What that means is King Micah is still alive” Light-Spinner explained. “Wait, you were one of the Horde higher ups” Catra asked “how did you NOT know Micah was alive?!”. “My position was one of training, I had no idea of happenings related to prisoners.” Light-Spinner explained “my apologies”. “Waaaaait” Adora interjected “you said 'good news'. Does that mean there’s…?”. “Yes, I’m afraid there is bad news as well” Castaspella said with a sigh “the scanners had picked up a horde presence as well. It was weak, but it seemed to gain strength”. Adora and Catra looked to each other, worried. “Is there anyone with her?!” Adora asked, turning back to Castaspella. “I’m afraid not. Angie insisted on travelling alone” Castaspella said with a huff “she can be so boarheaded sometimes.”. “Adora?” Catra said, tapping her back “how fast can SwiftWind fly?”. “I…I’m not sure!” Adora replied, panicked “he’s done his own flyabouts, but I’ve never been there to see his top speeds!”. </p><p>“Maybe I could help?” Light-Spinner asked, getting up “my time back in Mystacor has revitalized my magical energy. If you’d allow me, I could teleport us all to the island.”. Her gaze then turned to a sad one. “I understand that you two still have no reason to trust me, but you must believe that I am here to assist in whatever way I can” she continued. Adora looked to Catra, a question on her eyes. Catra looked away with a huff, but after a few seconds, she looked back to Shadoweaver. “You’re right, I still do NOT trust you” she growled “but…I’m with the resistance now. I can’t see my leader get beaten by some crummy spy”. Catra could feel Adora’s warm smile from behind her, but she didn’t turn around because she KNEW she’d blush. “Well, if you’ve got Catra, then you’ve got me” Adora concluded “just…please don’t use any of us as batteries, okay?”. With a nod, Light-Spinner outstretched her hand.  Nodding to each other, Adora and Catra walked up to Light-Spinner, Castaspella following suit.</p><p><br/>Another nightmare woke Micah with a start, his eyes opening to see the dark sky above. “ mneh, gah…” Micah grumbled as he got up “Kadroh? Are you awake?”. Yet when Micah looked over, he was met with an empty bed of leaves. “Oh, well this can’t be good” Micah muttered “KADROH! KADROH WHERE ARE YOU?!”. “Micah? It’s really you isn’t it?” a surprised voice spoke behind him. Micah whirled, staff at the ready, to see Angella standing there with tears in her eyes. “Ah, of course after I wake up the hallucinations start” Micah muttered, lowering his staff and looking away “so which are you representing? My worries I didn’t love Angella enough? My worries that Brightmoon has fallen in my absence? Oh! Or is it both?! I feel like that’d make sense”. “I-what?” Angella asked, confused “Micah, it’s…it’s me!”. “And that is exactly what the previous hallucination said” Micah grumbled “my mind needs new material. If you could kindly disappear I have a friend to find”. “Micah, please! Believe me!” Angella pleaded “I’ve come to rescue you from this pla…”. Angella was cut off by Micah’s head shooting up. “The signal!” he gasped “its…stronger?”. Before Angella could say a word, Micah scampered off, leaving no choice for the worried queen. “Micah! Please!” she shouted as she followed him through the brush, into the heart of Beast Island.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. New-U</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Who's ready for me to add lore to something that was barely expounded upon in the main show? I am!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Impdak tinkered furiously, trying to build himself a body. A bigger, more threatening body, but…he couldn’t. Enraged, he tossed the tools aside with a snarl. “Brother, I have news” Truth-Hope spoke as she blipped onto the screen startling Impdak. “is it GOOD news, dear sister?” Impdak asked, after composing himself. “Oh, it is indeed good news” Truth-Hope replied, a worrying grin on her usually stoic face “we’ve reacquired contact with the clone we sent to beast Island and, even if unknowing, he has provided us a vital tactical advantage”. Truth-Hope flickered away and was replaced with a first person view of Kadroh staring at his new face in a puddle. A much more similar face.</p><p>“I-I don’t understand” Kadroh muttered as he brought his newly grown hand to his much less monstrous face. All he remembers is waking up in the middle of a clearing with his body now looking like…this. Like if he was a truly complete clone. Was he stolen by a beast? Did he sleep-slither? Well, he supposed it would be sleep-walking at this point? Either way, something dragged him out there, and his only hints were the trails from the camp, and a strange humming in his ears. Before he could think any further, he heard Micah yelling his name from across the forest, yet his cries seemed to get…weaker. “Brother Micah!” Kadroh shouted “I am here brother! I am here!”. He then dashed as quickly as his new body could carry him, his worry for his brother causing him to be blind to the two shadows passing overhead.</p><p>Kadroh arrived at where Micah was, seeing both Micah and Angella wrapped up in black tendrils. “Brother! I’m here!” Kadroh shouted “what is all of this?”.  “The…signal…” Micah managed to speak “it drains…the…will…of…”. Before Micah could finish, his head dropped, his pupils becoming a dark grey. Without a moment to think, Kadroh extended his spikes (which luckily for him, came out of his wrists. He would’ve been screwed if protrusions that large came out of his head still) leaped in, landing strike after strike on as many tendrils as possible. He jumped back, breathing heavily but the tendrils did not react to his poison, only wrapping tighter around the victims. “It’s…no use…” Micah muttered “I…cannot be freed…just as I cannot leave this island. I will be trapped here so it might as well eat me”. “Br…brother!” Kadroh wailed. Before he could truly give up hope, this time he noticed the shadows above. Looking up, he saw twin mechsuits hovering above him. “Kendra? Light the fuse!” Entrapta shouted, raising her wrist. With a little *poomf*, a canister shot out of the wrist-mounted launcher. When it made contact with a tendril, it was set ablaze, the flames travelling up and down the pile. The tendrils, seeming almost shocked, retreated into the trees, dropping their prey.</p><p><br/>
Micah and Angella slumped to the floor, the color in their faces returning. “I…wow, that…kinda hurt” Micah cringed as he got up, his eyes slowly meeting with Kadroh. “Well, hello there” he greeted “have we met before?”. “Do you not recognize my face, brother?” Kadroh asked, worried “well if I may be honest I don’t recognize it either. B-but hey! I have limbs to shake now!”. He shook his arm up and down to demonstrate. It took Micah a second to put two and two together, but when it hit his face broke into a wide smile. “KADROH!” Micah shouted with glee, pulling him into a hug “oh, I looked all over the island for ya! Though I probably wouldn’t have recognized you with you looking like …this”.</p><p> “Yeah…I am unsure of how all of this happened” Kadroh mumbled, looking past Micah to Angella “say, who is this?”. Micah looked back to Angella, then to Kadroh, and back to Angella. “You can…see her?” Micah asked “she is not a hallucination?”. “I don’t believe so?” Kadroh answered “unless we share the same vision”. Micah slowly returned his gaze to Angella, trying to find the words to say. “I…I’m sorry, Angella” Micah stammered “It’s…it’s been so long. I didn’t realize it was…”. Before he could finish, Angella had interwoven her husband in her arms and wings, pulling him into a hug. “I had worried for a moment that I had become your ghost” Angella choked out through tears.</p><p> “The queen is safe. Good.” Hordak stated as he descended with Entrapta. As he landed, his eyes met with Kadroh's. “You are more well built than any clones we have faced” he told Kadroh matter of factly “are you…native to Beast Island?”. “Oh SKIES no!” Kadroh backed off “I was actually one of the tube clones, but I became friends with Micah once I was marooned here.”. “FASCINATING! So if you defected, that means that the clones are capable of higher cognitive thought!” Entrapta rambled “but as for your physical form, how in the skies did you go from barely formed to a near lookalike?! I MUST KNOW!”.</p><p> “I…I do not have an answer, I’m sorry” Kadroh apologized “I had woken up merely an hour ago with a humming in my ears and my body like this.”. “humming?” Micah asked, looking away from his wife’s embrace “do you mean the Signal?”. “I am…still not entirely sure what that is” Kadroh admitted “unless you’re talking about the tendrils, because I didn’t wake up with any taking me”.  “Well, the tendrils are part of the signal” Micah explained “but the humming is what it uses to weaken it’s prey before it lands the deathblow, which makes it strange that you weren’t affected. I know you’re a clone, but you’re organic, right?”. “that isn’t entirely true” Hordak stepped in “while my consciousness makes them partially organic, their bodies are created of a polymer I had developed in my early days on this planet.”. “ooh ooh! That could be why his body was manipulated!” Entrapta chimed in “just a theory though buuuuuut maybe the Signal had the opposite effect, causing the physical form to evolve and morph! Again, just a theory, but I’ll need more testing done! CAN I TEST ON YOU?!”.</p><p> Kadroh looked to Hordak for help. Hordak only nodded at him. “Well…sure!” Kadroh answered the short woman currently staring at him. “Eeeee! This is great!” Entrapta said, flapping her arms up and down happily “oh, but we’ll need to find you a way back to Brightmoon! I mean, well, Kendra and Florence could carry you, but that might get uncomfortable”. “I’m afraid that I cannot fly either” Angella noted “my body still seems to be recovering from the signal's assault”. Before they could ponder any more, a loud *KRABOOM* followed by a magical explosion blinded the group. When it subsided, the group saw Light-Spinner, Catra, Castaspella, and Adora cornering Kadroh. “You will not hurt the king!” Adora shouted at Kadroh. “Wha…hurt?!” Kadroh asked confused “what’s going on? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!”. His only answer was Catra pouncing on top of him. “Don’t play dumb, Horde Scum!” she snarled, raising her claws to strike, only letting Kadroh brace for impact. “Florence? Protocol 2-AM please” Hordak requested while raising his wrist. With  *fwoomp*, a beanbag shot out of the wrist launcher, hitting Catra. “Ow! Watch it!” she shouted, turning to Hordak. She then realized that Hordak was there, along with Angella, Micah, and Entrapta. “Hiiiii!” Entrapta greeted from next to Hordak. “Whaaaat’s going on?” Adora asked while stepping forward, making everyone’s eyes need to adjust to her brightness.</p><p>“wait…are you She-Ra?” Micah asked, stunned. “Which? Oh, y-yes!” Adora said with a confused tone “yes I am!”. “Oh, and you are a Magicat! A queen no less!” Micah shot over to Catra, slapping his curious hands on her cheeks “it is wonderful to see your people still live!”. An *ahem* drew Micah’s gaze, and his smile turned to a grimace.  “Please tell me she’s a hallucination” Micah grumbled, staring daggers at Light-Spinner. “I…I understand you do not wish me real, but…I am” Light-Spinner admitted “Adora had returned me to before the spell of obtainment had taken over my form. Ever since, I’ve been serving Brightmoon in an attempt at penance”. Micah glanced at Angella, and she replied with a nod. Micah let out a sigh, but then his face pulled into a chipper grin. “well alright!” he quipped “I’m convinced! Now, how about we get off this island?”. “You would…trust me so quickly?” Light-Spinner asked, stunned. “Oh skies no” Micah admitted “but I’m hoping that if I treat you as the Light-Spinner I knew, you might reconsider betraying us…possibly”. Light-Spinner let a weary smile cross her face and she thanked her old student. “can…can someone please get the queen off of me?” Kadroh requested, pointing to Catra who still sat on his chest. “oh…uh, sorry” Catra apologized quickly as she hopped off of the clone, offering him a hand to pull him up. “oh! Many thanks milady!” Kadroh replied cheerfully, taking her hand “I must say you are rather strong for roya-OOF!”. With a sudden jolt, Kadroh was tackled in the gut by…Adora? “ADORA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Hordak shouted to her, surprised“we already explained that he isn’t threatening!”. But Adora didn’t listen, moving her arms around Kadroh’s waist, lifting him above her shoulder, and pulled him closer into the forest.</p><p>Once a clearing was reached, Kadroh was tossed to the ground. “my-my apologies, sister” Kadroh murmured as he got up “did I do something to offend?”. “The only offensive thing is the fact that you have hidden this transformation from us” a tinny voice escaped Adora’s mouth. Kadroh’s face turned to one of dread. “You have not replied. Are you not relieved to hear an ally?” Adora(?) Asked, raising her head to so her eyes glowing a sickly green. “N-no! You can’t be Truth-Hope!” Kadroh gasped “how have you claimed her? She is not mechanical!”. “that is an irrelevant inquiry” Truth-Hope batted aside “what I need to do now is treat you to a combat drill. Our brother needs to make sure this transformation does not have any side effects”. “Our bro…THAT CARBON COPY IS NO BROTHER OF MINE!” Kadroh growled “HE IS WEAK!”. “Precisely why we need this data” Truth-Hope explained, dismissing Kadroh’s anger “now, time to begin”. Before Kadroh could snap back once more, he felt the posessed She-Ra’s fist collide with his sternum, flinging him back. “*cough* fine? You want some data?” Kadroh growled, popping out his defensive spikes “lets gather some data!”.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Brain Blast</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I RISE FROM MY GRAVE TO GRANT THEE ANOTHER CHAPTER! MAYHAPS THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL ARISE SOONER! (I'm not entirely sure though, my sleep schedule has been kinda wonky and it's been bashing down on my creative juices, but I'll keep trying!)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Truth-Hope once again piloted She-ra to deliver another strike, which Kadroh riposted, leading him to move in for a strike but…he couldn’t. Taking advantage of the hesitation, Truth-Ra landed a spinning strike to his jaw. “I see why our dear brother abandoned you” Truth-Ra mocked as Kadroh staggered backwards “you don’t strike when needed”. “my…my true brother deigns the body you possess an ally” Kadroh mumbled “I wouldn’t dare risk an ally's well being!”. “you have heart” Truth-Ra admitted “disgusting”.</p><p> Truth-Ra lunged at Kadroh, preparing to strike again, but she was stopped by a shadow dashing at her from the woods, catching her in midair. Kadroh looked up to see Catra straddled on Truth-Ra's chest. “get the hell out of my girlfriend!” Catra snarled. “you may have power over Adora, but you have no strength here” Truth-Ra scoffed “especially without my original version”. “oh I have more power than you know” Catra growled, taking off her crown and slapping it onto Truth-Ra’s forehead “Catnip! I need you!”. “absatootley!” Catnip’s voice quipped from the crown “ready to bash some Horde heads!”. With a flash of light, the crown lit up like it had once before, leading Catra to hope Catnip made it through.</p><p>“ohhh Kay” Catnip mumbled as she wandered Adora’s headspace “where is this-eep!”. Catnip jumped back, he tail puffed up, as a green bolt of light crashed down where she stood. “you must be Adora’s kitten” Truth-Hope stated. Catnip looked up to see Truth-Hope sneering down at her and Adora chained up in the very same light.</p><p> “nggh, Catnip!” Adora managed to struggle out “get outta here! I’ve got this!”. “all due respect, my queen: you don’t” Catnip chirped matter of factly “but don’t worry! I’m here to help!”. Catnip started swishing her tail back and forth, becoming a blur of fur in a mere few seconds. “learned this from Princess Mata!” Catnip spoke with a grin, her gaze locked on Truth-Hope. With a jolt, Catnip’s tail stopped, but wherever it Had swished before, a glowing tail of blue flame hung. Before Truth-Hope could ask what she was doing, a blue tongue of flame lashed against her head, knocking her out of the sky and releasing Adora from her chains. “h…how did…?” Truth-Hope began to ask, but 3 more flames struck at her. “we are both beings of the mind” Catnip spoke in an oddly serious tone “you strike out against any member of the royal family, you WILL suffer”. “Wretched child…” Truth-Hope growled before turning her gaze to Adora “don’t expect this to be the last”. With a glitched blast, Truth-Hope disappeared. </p><p>“wow…it is so weird to see Light-Hope show…emotion” Adora quipped “but that technique was SO COOL! Any way you can teach me?”. “That’s a negatory, Queenie. That one really only works for Magicats” Catnip denied with a shake of her head, causing Adora’s face to fall in disappointment “that’s 'sides the point right now though. We have to get ya back in control, you’ve got a worried wife out there!”. “w…w…wife? WIFE???” Adora stammered out, her face a beet red. “yeah, that’s what you are right? Though I did hear Catra call you her girlfriend, so I might be reading this incorrectly?” Catnip rambled off “anyways, I’ll pop out, and you should come to, ya know, outside of your head. See you there!”. Before Adora could question further, Catnip disappeared with a poof and it all went dark.</p><p>Adora’s eyes opened, meeting with a blue and yellow orb staring at her in the dark. That’s when she realized she wasn’t She-Ra anymore, because Catra’s face would’ve TOTALLY lit up…like, literally. But that was something to worry about later. “h…hey Queenie” Adora said with a weak grin. Adora watched as the two orbs were joined by a wide smile. “took you long enough you dork” Catra sobbed out from behind happy tears as she walked out of the shadows. </p><p>Before Adora could shoot back, Catra pulled Adora in for a hug and a kiss. “hey! Easy there! I’m still a bit achy!” Adora said with a laugh, before looking past her to see they weren’t on the island anymore “wait, we’re back in Brightmoon?”. “huh? Oh yeah” Catra pulled back, wiping her tears away “after I got Catnip into your head, shad…Light-Spinner managed to teleport us all away. She’s super drained right now but…she got us out, back to Catnip though…”. With a slow movement, Catra plucked the crown off of Adora’s head and put it back on her own. “are you sure this is a good idea, Queenie?” Catnip asked, worry in her voice “that creep could break back in if I’m not with Adora!”.</p><p> “I believe that’s where we come in” Hordak spoke from the doorway, startling the both of them. They both looked over to see Hordak and Entrapta in the doorway of the room, unarmored. “apologies for the interruption. We didn’t wish to ruin the moment” Hordak apologized “now, if you could Entrapta”. “sure thing!” Entrapta spoke up “ok so, I was going to make our Light-Hope a super cool mech body with a VAST array of weapons, but after what happened on Beast Island I decided to tweak the plans a bit. We can’t have our magically enhanced soldier falling under enemy control again, after all!”. Entrapta then reached a hair tendril behind her and pulled out a tiara adorned with a blue Runestone. “wait, a Runestone?” Adora asked, worried “but haven’t we been spending all this time to NOT use them?”.  “well, that’s what we thought at first, but after running a few tests now that Scorpia and Perfuma are disconnected, it looks like as long as the Princesses are disconnected, you should be in the clear!” Entrapta explained “now, let’s get this puppy on you!”. Entrapta then plopped the tiara onto Adora’s head, correcting it bit by bit until it was straight on. “soooo, how do I know it works?” Adora asked. “If you hear my voice in your head” a tinny voice chirped “it’s been awhile Adora”. “oh, Light-Hope!” Adora lit up, before switching immediately to a suspicious expression “you…are MY Light-Hope, right?”. “oh I’m not yours” Light-Hope admitted “OoOoOOoohhhhh! I’m going to possess you! OOoooOOooooOoHhhhh!”. “ha ha, very funny!” Adora snarked “but…It is good to have you back. How have you been holding up?”. </p><p>“oh, it was quite a time” Light-Hope admitted with a tired tone “me and Bow had to shoot down a ship that turned out to be the other princesses, so that was a start”. “wait, a ship? What ship?” Adora asked, worried once again. “oh! It’s the Ancient One ship that was from the wastes!” Entrapta interjected “it was covered in these strange technoorganic vines that all centered around this copy of my first ones disk! Ooh! I can probably show it to you! Wait right here!”. Before anyone could interject, Entrapta dashed off towards the lab. </p><p>“Well, while she does that, do you think we could see the ship?” Adora asked, while pushing herself up into a sitting position, Catra helping her whenever she faltered “I wanna see if Mara’s message Is still intact”. “ah, Entrapta was able to preserve any file left on the ship” Hordak reassured “but…is it necessary at this point?”. Both Catra and Adora gave him a confused look. “I…I understand the confusion, but the message doesn’t exactly have a purpose, with the Light-Hope the message speaks of being possessed and, therefore, untrustworthy outright”. “that…that makes sense” Adora admitted “have you found any other messages though?”. “I’m afraid not, but we aren’t halting our search” Hordak explained “Entrapta has been particularly enraptured with the data the ship has provided, so you can surely expect any updates regarding your predecessor from her”. </p><p>“Thanks, Hordak. You and Entrapta have been a massive help” Adora thanked Hordak with a smile. “anything to return my home to me” Hordak returned “it is also rather cathartic to be able to get back at the side of me I’ve hated all my life”. Realizing he had overshared, Hordak slammed his mouth shut, garnering another confused look from the bedside duo. </p><p>“do you…have anything you wanna talk about?” Catra asked. “*cough* n-no! Nothing that pertains to the success of this mission! Now, you wished to visit the ship?” Hordak redirected, color coming to his face. Before Catra could push back, Entrapta zoomed back in, holding the her disk. “TA DA! The Control disk!” Entrapta proudly presented “alright, let’s get to that ship! Oh! I’ll also need Kadroh too so we might need to make a detour or two, sounds good? Great! Let’s go!”.</p><p> She zoomed back out of the room faster than a black cat going silly mode, leaving the others in her dust. “I…I will follow her!” Hordak stumbled “after all, I think I know where Kadroh is! Anyways, see you at the courtyard!”. Hordak rushed out of the room after Entrapta, powered by his desire to not confront his oversharing. “…huh. Well, guess we should get going” Catra muttered “are you still weak? I can support you the way over”. “nope, I’m all energized again!” Adora reassured with a grin “but I appreciate the offer”. With a quick peck to Catra’s cheek beforehand, Adora vaulted herself off of the bed. Even such a small act stunned Catra in place, but she quickly shook it off. “well, if that’s the case…” she trailed off with a grin before breaking into a sprint “LAST ONE TO THE COURTYARD IS A FAILED CLONE!”. “wha-OH YOU’RE ON, MEOWMEOW!” Adora shouted after Catra before breaking into a sprint of her own.</p><p>“B…brother, I’ve returned” Truth-Hope announced her arrival through a terminal in the Sanctum, her code still reeling from Catnip’s attack. “ah, sister” Impdak spoke from the rafters “you look terrible, but besides that, how was the combat drill?”. “I was not able to gather much data with the rebellion assailing me too early, but I believe I’ve gotten enough” Truth-Hope explained. With a rough flicker, the screen turned to a feed of Truth-Ra’s battle with Kadroh, up until Catra snuck up on her. “hm, I see” Impdak spoke aloud “the form is similar to the base clone structure of our high brother, yet the failed retain their specific mechanisms for defense. Very useful indeed.”. Impdak then motioned to close the window, bringing Truth-Hope's face back up. “let the cloners know we need to ramp up production” Impdak ordered “we march on Beast Island!”.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Resistance Recruits</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Pretty bonkers how I'm now 56 word documents into this fic. Haven't worked this hard on anything in awhile.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><br/>
“you-you know what? I hate this” Kyle grumbled, drawing a groan from Lonnie and Rogelio. “We KNOW Kyle! This is, like, the THIRD TIME YOU’VE SAID IT THIS WEEK!” Lonnie snapped “ 'sides, it’s not like we can help it. We’re all stuck here”. Rogelio only grunted in agreement. “hey it doesn’t hurt to wish, okay?” Kyle shot back “sure would beat being stuck in-in HERE.  Making weird goop things for Hordak!”. “DON’T…don’t say that, Kyle!” Lonnie whispered through gritted teeth “don’t you remember what happened to Daisy?”. “well-well maybe whatever happened to Daisy would be better than THIS!” Kyle shot back, not changing his volume “death would be better than-than day in day out flipping a bunch of switches to make these ugly…THINGS!”. </p><p>The whole cloners floor fell silent, everyone staring at the trio's corner. “who called my children ugly?” a voice spoke from the shadows. The whole room turned to see Hordak stepping out from the dark. Not wanting to be taken themselves, the whole room pointed towards Kyle and the others. “ah…Kyle” Hordak sneered “it seems you need some…reworking”. “I’m…I’m sure he didn’t mean it sir!” Lonnie chimed in, stepping between Hordak and Kyle, Rogelio growling in agreement. “to the side, you two!” Hordak snarled “unless you wish to be taken too!”. “Lonnie, Rogelio, stop” Kyle spoke with a firmness “I meant what I said, and I’m going to pay the price”. “Kyle, what are you SAYING!” Lonnie shouted at him, but he just pushed through the barrier the two of them set up. Rogelio let out a soft murmur, causing Kyle to turn. “I’ll…I’ll miss you too” Kyle said with a weak smile before turning to Hordak “I-I’m ready. DO WHAT YOU WANT WITH ME!”. “Poor choice of words, rebel” Hordak sneered before grabbing him by the arm “now let’s get you gone”. Lonnie and Rogelio watched dismayed as Kyle was pulled out of the room, and no sooner did they leave than Truth-Hope came on the main monitor above them. “Hordak commands you to work double time!” she stated “we need an army to make it’s way to Beast Island!”. Lonnie and Rogelio looked to each other, confused. “Beast Island?” Lonnie thought out loud “what is going on?”</p><p>“So, wh-where are you taking me?” Kyle asked, putting on his bravest face “the Sanctum? Beast Island? COME ON I CAN TAKE IT”. “gonna need you to keep your voice down, honey” Hordak requested in a voice that REALLY didn’t sound like his. Before Kyle could question the weirdness, he was yanked into a nearby closet.</p><p> “oh thank the skies! I can finally get outta this thing!” Hordak sighed, sliding down the wall to the floor. “ok, Hordak? Wh-what's going on?” Kyle asked, REALLY confused now. “Up bup bup! Gimme a second!” Hordak interjected. With a dark shimmer, Hordak’s body twisted and transformed untill the dark fell away, and a limber, green form sat there instead. “you may call me Double Trouble!” they introduced “pleased to make your acquaintance!”.</p><p> Kyle thought his confusion had hit it’s peak. He was wrong. “ok, what is going on?” Kyle asked. “Oh, that’s simple darling” Double Trouble replied, jumping to their feet “I’m breaking you out!”. “Wait, REALLY?!” Kyle asked excitedly before his face turned to one of worry “but…Lonnie and Rogelio…”. “no time, hon” Double Trouble shot down “with them gearing up for an assault on Beast Island, security is going to be CRAZY high!”. Kyle was sad at this fact. He’s never been separated from those two before! It just feels…wrong. “look, you’re connected with them, I get that.” Double Trouble consoled “but we gotta get you to the docks! I’ve got a captain down there that can get you away from the Fright Zone”. “oh…okay” Kyle replied, shaking himself back to reality “I’m-I’m ready!”. “great! Now I just need a perfect role…”  Double Trouble said with a sharp grin.</p><p>“Hey, is this one of ours?” Craig asked Derek, the other guard patrolling the docks. “uh, doesn’t look like any sort of Horde design” Derek replied “could be a captured vessel though. Looks like a Salineas style”. “You really know your ships, don’t you bro?” Craig complimented. “you know what other ships I know?” Derek replied “me and you”. “what…what do you mean man?” Craig asked, blushing (but his face was covered by his Horde required helmet so it wasn’t exactly clear).  Before Derek could clarify, an *ahem* from behind them drew their attention. They turned to see…Truth-hope?<br/>
“T-Truth-Hope! Ma’am!” Craig stammered, jumping to attention, Craig following suit “wha…what brings you to the docks? Wait, better question, HOW are you at the docks? I-If you don’t mind me asking, of course”. “Lord Hordak granted me a hologram body” Truth-Hope explained away “but what are YOU TWO up to? Romancing on Horde soil, do you have no respect for your leadership?”.</p><p> “do…do I answer that truthfully?” Derek asked, garnering a look from Craig. “what was that, scum?” Truth-Hope growled at Derek. “oh you heard me!” Derek shot back, standing his ground “you want some damn truth? I DON’T RESPECT THEM! They’ve done nothing but treat us like trash and we are supposed to BE THANKFUL?!”. “Y…yeah!” Craig agreed, grabbing a hold of Derek’s hand “I’m with him!”.</p><p>The two dockhands and Truth-Hope had a stare out for ages before Kyle spoke up behind Truth-Hope. “Ok! That’s enough testing, Mx Trouble!” Kyle spoke up “they’re obviously with us!”. “oh, can’t I have just a little fun?” Truth-Hope pouted before shifting back into Double Trouble “alright, look you two lovebirds, me and party pooper over here are taking this ship back to the resistance base in Salineas. You in?”.</p><p>Derek and Craig just stood there motionless for a solid minute, letting it all sink in. “s…sure?” Derek spoke up, Craig following with a nod. “Wonderful!” Double Trouble said with a clap of their hands “now be a doll and move out of my way real quick? Need to talk to our captain.”. The two unclasped their hands to let their shapeshifting savior past. Double Trouble tapped out a rhythm on the hull of the ship, bringing about a series of bangs and shouts from inside the ship. “I’m-I’m up!” a discombobulated voice shouted from inside the ship, followed by another series of thumps.</p><p>With a *BANG* the cabin door flew open and Seahawk rushed out. “WELCOME, TRAITORS OF THE HORDE!” Seahawk shouted gallantly “WELCOME TO MY SHIP!”. “hey, voices down sailor boy!” Double Trouble shushed “we are trying to be STEALTHY remember?”. “oh! Of-Of course!” Seahawk stammered, lowering his voice “oh! 3 people this time! A new high score, DT! ”. “wa-wait a sec, YOU’RE THE GUY WHO TOSSED ME IN THAT RAID!” Kyle shouted, pointing at Seahawk. “oh, yes! Hello!” Seahawk nonchalantly greeted back “ready to set sail?”. With a bit of trepidation, partially because he still didn’t wanna leave Rogelio and Lonnie, partially because his back still hurt from when Seahawk threw him, Kyle walked onto the ship, followed by Craig, Derek, and Double Trouble, who was checking behind them. With one final look, Kyle turned to watch The Fright Zone shrink as they sailed away. “Rogelio…Lonnie…” he trailed off “I’ll…WE’LL be back!”</p><p>A night passed, and the ship landed at Salineas. “ALRIGHT! UP AND AT 'EM CREW!” Seahawk shouted to his below deck travelers “WE. ARE. HERE!”. Groggily, everyone clamored above deck to face with the Sea Gate. “whoa! It’s…beautiful!” Craig cooed, struck with awe “I would’ve left the Horde sooner if I could see sights like this!”.<br/>
“It truly is magnificent, is it not?” Seahawk spoke with a grin “my dear Mermista is an absolute GODDESS with design!”. “SEAHAWK!” a voice shouted from above “what did I tell you about complimenting me in public! It’s, like, super embarrassing” . The boatfarers looked up to see Mermista on one of the towers, her trident at the ready. “ah! My dearest Mermista!” Seahawk crowed with a wide gesture ,”the waves must’ve spoken of my arrival and you answered their call!”. “No, a sensor array Bow set up told me there was a SHIP coming from THE FRIGHT ZONE!” Mermista yelled “think you can tell me what that’s about?”. “well, of course!” Seahawk returned “if you could let us in!”. “uuugh, fine” Mermista grumbled. With a swipe from her trident, she opened the gate just long enough for Seahawk's ship to slip in. “thank you my dear!” Seahawk cooed up to Mermista before turning to his passengers “she’s amazing, right?”. No answer came from the Horde refugees, but Seahawk could see their dropped jaws from under their helmets.</p><p> </p><p>“eh, I’ve seen better” Double Trouble quipped.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Dreams and Rad times</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I dunno what to put here.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Even though the victory was all but confirmed, Impdak continued to work furiously on the mechsuit. Just in case, of course. “ggh, I have to…keep…going” Impdak growled, fatigue lapping at his body “I must…work for…my brot…”. Before he could finish, however, his body gave out, and he passed out on the shoulder of the suit.</p><p>“I…I miss…” a soft voice whimpered in the dark. It felt…compelling. Compelling enough for Failsafe’s eyes to flutter open. His eyes flicked around at the dark abyss around him, and then down to his body. “this…this is my body?” Failsafe stated with uncertainty “but…how? Where is the…”. “miss…brother…miss…Hordak…” the voice cried again, drawing Failsafe’s attention.<br/>
He wandered the darkness, following the cries, until he came upon a small, whimpering form. “this is…the other body” Failsafe confirmed to himself. It looked so pathetic there. Crying, sniveling for it’s…brother. Failsafe stood there silently, realizing his connection to this body, this…Imp. “greetings” Failsafe grunted “I…I am the brother you seek.”. Imp's head shot up, hopeful, but he could see this was not his brother. Imp let out an angry hiss and dashed off.</p><p>“Graaaah! Don’t run from me!” Failsafe snarled, dashing after Imp. He was mad that he was denied a brother once more, but, deep down, he knew that he deserved that denial.</p><p>Continuing on for who knows how long, the shadows around Failsafe slowly melded into a surrounding that caused him stop in his tracks. “ah, Brother, welcome” a voice he recognized spoke from behind him. Turning slowly, he saw his great brother, Horde Prime, sitting upon his throne. “how…where…” Failsafe stumbled before shooting to attention “you wished to see me?”. “why yes, brother!” Horde Prime spoke with worrying pep as he stepped off of his throne “I wished to speak on your mission progress”. “o-of course brother! Anything for your glory!” Failsafe spoke with a bow not seeing his dear brother's approach. He looked up to see Horde Prime has grown much larger to a monsterous degree. “I wish to say you have FAILED ME!” the giant growled before bringing a large fist down on top of Failsafe. He closed his eyes for impact, but it never came. Opening his eyes he was then met with the eyes of his future, his…traitor. “why do you not believe me?” Hordak asked simply.</p><p>“I…because…BECAUSE I WOULD NEVER BETRAY MY BROTHER!” Failsafe shouted, hoping to push down his own doubts. “yet he failed us” Hordak’s voice spoke, behind him now. Failsafe spun, not seeing Hordak, but Imp instead. “our “brother” left us behind to DIE!” Hordak’s voice repeated through Imp's open mouth. The voice continued to repeat and repeat and repeat untill it felt trapped in Failsafe’s very mind.</p><p>“I see you’ve wondered why I said such a thing. Do you wish to know?” Hordak’s voice spoke in his mind. “it’s…because…I was shocked you’d betray our brother” Failsafe tried to explain away under the stress of the reverberations. “WRONG!” Hordak growled, the reverberations silencing at once “you were wondering what you missed! You were wondering how long he left us!”. “WELL WHY DON’T YOU TELL ME THEN!” Failsafe snarled back. This brought a laugh from Hordak. “Tell you? I am a mere figment of your imagination” Hordak laughed “all of what I have said? They are YOUR THOUGHTS. Thoughts you feel to be taboo, and yet, they are thoughts you need to face!”.</p><p>“impossi…ble” Failsafe mumbled “I…I am a loyal servant of my brother!”. “But have you not seen what our future has become?” Hordak whispered “stuck on this planet with a skeleton crew of an army? At least our future has love in it.”. “th-there’s no love besides that of our brother!” Failsafe stammered “but it did seem to be…interesting?”. “you see? This world has so many experiences. Experiences that would be missed under our brother” Hordak explained “so why not experience them?”. “I…I suppose” Failsafe mumbled. “A grand decision!” Hordak stated with a smile “now, my brother, where will you go?”.</p><p> “Brightmoon” Failsafe stated clearly “I…I need to ask the real future me for guidance”. “good. I am glad you see that our great brother’s love isn’t so great” Hordak said, before a tug at his robe drew his attention. He looked down to see Imp staring up at him. “Hordak?...brother?” Imp spoke out the words, much like an infant unsure of speech.</p><p> With a sad shake of his head, Hordak kneeled down to Imp’s eye level. “my apologies, but I am not your real brother” Hordak stated with a frown “but this one can take you to him, perhaps, even free you!”. Imp warily turned his gaze to Failsafe, who looked back with uncertainty. Slowly, Imp began to stalk towards Failsafe until they were face to face. In a move Failsafe didn’t expect, Imp placed one of his hands on Failsafe’s chest. “brother” Imp stated firmly, though his eyes still weren’t sure. Failsafe let a warm smile pass onto his lips. “yes” Failsafe confirmed back “brother.”.</p><p>Impdak was awoken by the saltiness of the tears flowing out of his eyes. Getting up from the armored shoulder, he wiped at his eyes, but stopped and looked down to his hands. “…just you wait brother” Impdak spoke to the body he resided in “I’ll find a way”. </p><p>“-And that is how I saved my first batch of Horde soldiers!” Seahawk finished his explanation valiantly. “Wow, that was…actually pretty rad” Mermista admitted “could you, like, get off my table though?”. “oh, aha, of course”  Seahawk said sheepishly, stepping off of Mermista's strategy room table “anyways, now that my HEROIC STORY is over, where’s Daisy and the others? I wish to introduce them to the newcomers!”. Mermista replied with a sharp inhale. “Ariel, where’s our crew?” Double Trouble followed up Seahawk’s question. “the…dungeon” Mermista admitted with a sigh. Seahawk let out a “what?”. Double Trouble let out a louder “WHAT?”. “LOOK. Excuse me if I decided to jail the HORDE SOLDIERS that showed up at my base!” Mermista sniped back. “did they not tell you I sailed them here?” Seahawk asked. “yeah, do you think I’d believe anything Horde soldier says? We are in a WAR, Seahawk!” Mermista yelled before looking past him to the Horde traitors “uh, no offense.”. “n-nah I get it” Kyle shrugged off “we’ve got a reputation”. <br/>
“Well, where are they princess?” Double Trouble asked “can’t have them locked up for too long or they might think we’re the bad guys”. “oh, that’s pretty unlikely” Craig stepped in “a day in some jail is better than standing around in some factory making weird gelatin things”. “huh, noted” Double Trouble said with a shrug “now, on that dungeon”. “yeah yeah, let’s go” Mermista waved dismissively, gesturing for the group to follow her.</p><p>After multiple twists and turns that could only be rivaled by Dryl's castle, the group made it to the dungeons.  “Alright, here’s your peop-GAH!” Mermista started as she opened the doors to the dungeon, but she was cut off by a form jumping out of the room and tackling her. “I should’ve known that two timing transformer would betray me!” The lady on Mermista’s chest growled “Handing me over to some…PRINCESS!”. </p><p>“wow, glad you think so highly of me, flower girl” Double Trouble smirked, drawing the woman’s gaze. Those not used to her face jumped back a bit. The left side of her face was normal, but the right was plastered with a flower shaped scar. “Daisy! My, am I glad to see you!” Seahawk quipped as he stepped into her view “I hope your stay was…habitable?”. “Barely” Daisy grunted as she got off of Mermista “now, what’s the deal? Why’d me and the others get locked up by Seafoam over here?”. “look, I’m sorry, okay?” Mermista growled as she got off the floor “Seahawk didn’t tell me you’d be cooped up here and I panicked, alright?”. “yeah, well, you’re lucky it was only a day’s wait” Daisy shot back “or else I would’ve beat you down you…”. “o-okay! Let’s take it down a few notches!” Kyle shouted, stepping between the two “we’re on the same side here!”.</p><p> “are you sure about tha…wait, you’re one of Lonnie’s friends, aren’t you?” Daisy asked, pulling her dagger eyes away from Mermista. “oh! Y-yeah! You know her?” Kyle replied, his face perking up. “uh…yeah, kinda” Daisy pulled back, slight blush on her face “A-anyways, can we let the others out now? Can’t imagine Throckmorton and Anna are having a good time of it.”. “yooo, wait, this is where Throck's been?” Derek butted in “when he didn’t show up to hoverboarding, I thought he was sick!”. “wait, hoverboarding?” Craig asked in an almost betrayed tone “Derek, why didn’t you invite me? you KNOW I love hoverboarding!”. “well, I told Throck to invite you too” Derek explained “guess that got thrown off by the rescue op as well”.</p><p>“*ahem* can we please get on with it?” Mermista butted back “We’ve got, like, a war going on?”. “I’m with Ariel on this one” Double Trouble chimed in “lets get a move on!”. “uuuuugh, stop CALLING ME THAT!” Mermista shouted “you literally know my name!”. “hmm, true, but even if we’re on the same side, I love seeing you princess types squirm!” Double Trouble said with a smirk.</p><p> Mermista opened her mouth to retort, but thought better of it and walked over to a control panel instead. “alright let’s get your…wait, how did you get out anyways? The lock is magic.” Mermista asked Daisy. “laser knives” Daisy bluntly replied, unsheathing her weapons “your bars were easy to cut through. “that is going to take FOREVER to fix!” Mermista groaned before turning back to the controls “starting to regret trusting you guys”. </p><p>Holding her hand to the controls, Mermista shot watery tendrils through an array of tubes until a *kachunk* let the group know the cells were unlocked. “Are they…coming ou-?” Kyle began to ask before a sudden burst of smoke from the entrance caught him off guard. “hello allies!” a peppy female voice spoke from the cloud. “and a how do ya do from me too!” a chiller male voice chimed in “we are your raddest, coolest allies in this fight…”. As the words trailed off, two forms shot through the smoke. “ANNA AND THROCKMORTON!” The two valiantly introduced as loudly as they could. The room fell silent for a few seconds, until Seahawk’s clapping drew attention away from the two newcomers. “…what? I like their spirit!” Seahawk stated, noticing everyone’s eyes were now on him.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Throckmorton like "cool skateboarding cousin that shows up in literally every single math textbook" not Throckmorton like the...well, medical term.</p>
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